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The Prophet Daniel 

A KEY TO THE VISIONS AND PROPHECIES 
OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL 



BY 

A. C. C^AEBELEIN 

Editor of " Our Hope;," 

Author of "Exposition op Matthew"; "Harmony of 

the Prophetic Word;" "The Lord of Gi,ory," 

Etc., Etc. 



PUBLICATION OFFICE "OUR HOPE" 

80 Second Street 

New York, N. Y. 






COPYRIGHT I9II By 

A. C. GAEBELEIN 



PRINTING BY 

F. E. FITCH. INC. 

NEW YORK 



©CLA289805 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction i 

CHAPTER 

I Daniel and His Companions in Baby- 
lon ii 

II Nebuchadnezzar's Dream .... 17 
III- VI The Moral and Religious Condi- 
tions of the Times of the Gentiles 39 

III The Image of Gold 42 

IV Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Vision, His 

Insanity and Restoration ... 48 
V Belshazzar's Feast and the Fall of 

Babylon 54 

VI The Decree of Darius the Mede, Dan- 
iel in the Lion's Den and His De- 
liverance 62 

VII Daniel's Night Visions and Their 

Meaning 71 

VIII The Vision of the Ram and He-Goat . 92 
IX The Great Prophecy of the Seventy 

Weeks 119 

X The Preparation for the Final Pro- 
phecy 151 

i 



ii CONTENTS 

XI The Wars of the Ptolemies and Seleu- 
cidae Predicted. The Coming 
Events of the Time of the End . 166 
XII The End of the Prophecy. The Great 
Tribulation and Israel's Deliver- 
ance. The Epilogue . ... 196 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 
Introduction 

The Book of Daniel with its great prophecies, 
both fulfilled and unfulfilled, is one of the most 
interesting portions of God's Holy Word. Before 
we follow this blessed book in a series of studies a 
few general remarks on Prophecy and its import- 
ance may be in order. 

Prophecy is history prewritten. The center of 
all Prophecy and the goal as well is the Lord Jesus 
Christ. His sufferings and His Glory, His two 
Comings, as Man of Sorrows to suffer and to die, 
as King of Glory to reign were beheld and written 
in advance by the holy men of God through the 
power of God's Spirit. The entire history of the 
chosen people Israel is written in the prophetic 
Word. All their sufferings and wanderings, what 
has befallen them in the past; their present lot, 
scattered among all the nations of the earth ; what 
is yet to come upon them in tribulation and judg- 
ment, as well as blessing and peace, are found pre- 
written in the Bible. The history of nations, the 
times of the Gentiles, the present age in which we 
live, its course and end, the coming glories in a 
future age, all this and much more God has been 



2 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

pleased to reveal to us in His Word. By far the 
greater part of the Bible is Prophecy. 

In view of such a marvellous Book with divine 
and infallible predictions concerning this earth and 
its future, the destiny of nations, one can hardly 
understand why the professing church of to-day 
should almost completely ignore and neglect the 
study of Prophecy. Yet such is the case. The 
study of a Book like Daniel, or the great New 
Testament prophetic book, the Revelation, is 
frowned upon by many. The great majority of 
professing Christians have little desire to know 
what God has said concerning the future. They 
rather listen to the theories or dreams of the human 
mind than to God's plan, how He is going to bring 
this earth to a knowledge of Himself. This rejec- 
tion of what God says about the future appears 
strange and inconsistent, when one thinks of the 
natural eagerness and curiosity of the human heart 
to know the future. Thousands of fortune tellers, 
astrologers, demon possessed mediums, who ask 
the dead, make a fine living throughout Christen- 
dom and profit greatly by the desire of thousands 
to know a little about the future. It is said that the 
great rulers of Europe, the rulers of the so-called 
Christian nations, employ and have employed 
clairvoyants and mediums. And here in the 
Bible God has uncovered the future, but a few 
of His people pay any attention to it. We say 
it is strange indeed. But behind this fact looms 
up the dark shadow of the enemy of the Truth, 
Satan. 



[THE PROPHET DANIEL 3 

And this almost absolute neglect of the study of 
Prophecy has avenged itself. On account of it 
Christendom has sunk into the deplorable condi- 
tion in which it is to-day. The denial of the in- 
spiration of the Bible has become widespread. If 
Prophecy were intelligently studied such a denial 
could not flourish as it does, for Prophecy gives the 
clearest and most conclusive evidence, that the 
Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. 
Because the study of Prophecy has been set aside 
scepticism has come in. One of the most powerful 
answers to infidelity is Prophecy. 

The prophetic Word neglected leaves man igno- 
rant of God's plan and the future and man becomes 
the easy prey of lying inventions and delusive 
theories. For this reason we see about us among 
Christians an unscriptural optimism, which holds 
in theory and practice, the very opposite from what 
the Bible teaches; an optimism, which has no use 
for the solemn declarations of the Word, that this 
age is an evil age and that it will close with 
apostasy and judgment. All the present evil condi- 
tions, the denial of the faith, the indifference and 
worldliness of professing Christians are the result 
of ignoring Prophecy. 

And if we, His people, have learned to " love His 
appearing " and know of the coming manifestation 
of our ever blessed Lord, the consummation to 
which all prophecy points, we too must beware of 
neglecting Prophecy. It is the lamp, which shineth 
in a dark place till the Day dawn. Never before is 
there such need of this lamp as now. The dark 



4 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

place, the present age, becomes darker. The 
darker the night, the more the lamp is needed and 
the brighter shine its rays. When the Daydawn, 
with the blessed Morningstar comes, then we do 
not need the lamp any more. But now we are 
cast upon that lamp ; we cannot do without it. We 
need to turn more to the sure Word of Prophecy. 
Many of God's people had a far greater interest in 
Prophecy years ago. We have grown somewhat 
cold in the study of it and have advanced but little 
in it. Such neglect must result in spiritual loss. 
The prophetic Word puts before our hearts " things 
not yet seen." As we look in faith upon these un- 
seen and future things we shall estimate present 
things in their light and that will determine our 
character and conduct as Christians. We shall 
walk then in separation from that which is ripening 
for judgment and our service will be rendered with 
God's purposes in view. 

At the present time we behold a world progress, 
a progress in civilization, an extension of commerce 
as well as great religious movements on a large 
scale, which the age has never witnessed before. 
These very things are used by the " god of this 
age " to blind the eyes to the real conditions of the 
age. We too, dear friends, shall share this blind- 
ness in a certain degree, if we neglect a closer study 
of Prophecy. 

But a continued study of Prophecy is impossible 
unless we are separated from the world and live in 
the real enjoyment of our fellowship with God. 
And the continued prayerful study of Prophecy 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 5 

must result in separation and in the enjoyment of 
the nearness of God, and that is what we all want. 
The statement one hears sometimes from good 
Christian people, " I have not much use for 
Prophecy," is a bad testimony for the spiritual con- 
dition of the one who speaks thus. 

The Importance of the Book of Daniel. The im- 
portance of the Book of Daniel in many ways can- 
not be overestimated. Sir Isaac Newton said, " to 
reject Daniel is to reject the Christian religion." 
We might say to ignore the great prophecies, which 
were given to this wonderful man of God, leaves us 
without any knowledge of the prophetic Word con- 
cerning " things to come." These prophecies, 
which were given at a time when Israel was set 
aside nationally when the times of the Gentiles be- 
gan, give a vista of the centuries down to the end, 
when God resumes His relation with His earthly 
people and sets up His own Kingdom from above. 
Our Lord refers to Daniel in His great prophetic 
Olivet Discourse. Hence that discourse can only 
be correctly understood in the light of the Book of 
Daniel. The last Book of the Bible, the Book 
of Revelation, the only prophetic Book of the New 
Testament, would ever be a sealed Book, if we had 
not the prophecies of Daniel, and the prophecies of 
Daniel would in part remain sealed if we had not 
Revelation. Both books, the one written by the 
man greatly beloved and the other by the beloved 
disciple, must be studied together and are the keys 
to the entire prophetic Word. 

The Authenticity of the Book. No other book 



6 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

has been so much attacked as the Book of Daniel. 
It is fitted to be the battlefield between faith and 
unbelief; such it has been. For about 2,000 years 
wicked men, heathen philosophers and infidels have 
hammered away against it; but the Book of Daniel 
has proven to be an anvil upon which the critics' 
hammers have been broken into pieces. The Book 
has survived all attacks and we need not fear that 
the weak and puerile critics, the most subtle infidels 
of Christendom in our day can harm the Book. It 
has been denied that Daniel wrote the book during 
the Babylonian captivity. Kuenen and Wellhau- 
sen and their imitating disciples like Canon Farrar, 
Driver and others of inferior calibre claim that the 
work was not written in the Exile, but centuries 
later. Daniel had nothing to do with the Book at 
all ; a holy and gifted Jew wrote it instead and it is 
avowed fiction. Such are a few of the infidel state- 
ments made against this sublime book. These 
critics follow the wicked assailant of Christianity 
of the third Century, Porphyry, who contended that 
the Book of Daniel is a forgery, that it was written 
during the time of the Maccabees, after Antiochus 
Epiphanes, so clearly foretold in this book, had ap- 
peared. The whole reasoning method of the de- 
structive Bible-Criticism may be reduced to the fol- 
lowing: Prophecy is an impossibility, there is no 
such thing as foretelling events to come. There- 
fore a book which contains predictions must have 
been written after the events which are predicted. 
But how could the man who committed such a 
forgery be a pious Jew? No, the Book of Daniel is 



JHE PROPHET DANIEE •} 

either Divine or it is a colossal forgery and im- 
posture. No middle ground is possible. 

To follow all the arguments for the authenticity 
of Daniel would be impossible. However we men- 
tion a few. 

The so-called Septuagint version of the Old 
Testament (a translation into Greek) was undoubt- 
edly made before the times of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
the Syrian enemy who fell into Israel's land and 
denied the temple. Inasmuch as the Septuagint 
contains the Book of Daniel, it antedates the time 
of Antiochus Epiphanes. 

The great Jewish historian Josephus tells us that 
when Alexander the Great, who is also mentioned 
in Daniel's Prophecies, came to Jerusalem in the 
year 332 B. C. Jaddua, the high priest, showed him 
the prophecies of Daniel. Alexander was greatly 
impressed with it. 

But the highest authority for the authenticity of 
this Book is our Lord. He speaks of " Daniel the 
Prophet" (Matthew xxiv. 15). No other witness 
is needed. Whosoever sets aside the Book of 
Daniel, rejects the infallible testimony of the Son of 
God. 

The Division and Analysis of the Book. The 
Book of Daniel is composed of two parts and it is 
written in two languages. We may therefore 
divide the Book in a twofold way. 

The first six chapters form the first part of the 
Book. These chapters do not contain prophecies 
by Daniel. We see the Prophet as the divinely 
chosen interpreter of what had been revealed to 



8 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Nebuchadnezzar in dreams. In the great dream in 
the second chapter the period of time is revealed 
which in Scripture is called " The Times of the 
Gentiles." These extend from the time God with- 
drew from Jerusalem, where His Glory dwelt, until 
His Throne is once more established upon the earth. 
Then the times of the Gentiles are ended. Chap- 
ters iii-vi reveal in histories in which the Prophet 
and his associates are concerned, the moral conduct 
of the great world powers; what the times of the 
Gentiles are morally and religiously is here made 
known. All has likewise a specific meaning in con- 
nection with the " time of the end." 

The Second part of the Book comprises Chapters 
vii-xii. In this part are recorded the communi- 
cations which God made to Daniel. Here we find 
no longer dreams but visions. These visions also 
concern the times of Gentiles. In the seventh 
chapter the same ground is gone over which is 
covered by the second chapter, only much more 
is added. Then we find the relationship of these 
nations to Israel and what is to happen in " the 
time of the end," that is the few years which pre- 
cede the complete overthrow of the dominion of the 
Gentiles and the establishment of the Kingdom of 
heaven on the earth. The " time of the end," this 
prophetic period, has not yet come, nor can it come 
as long as the church is on earth. In this part we 
find the revelations concerning the two little horns, 
and the Anti-christ. 

But we must also consider the fact that the Book 
of Daniel was written by the Prophet in two Ian- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 9 

guages. The first chapter is written in Hebrew 
and so are chapters vii-xii. But chapters ii. 4-vii. 
28 are written in Aramaic, the language of these 
eastern empires. The reason for this is very- 
simple. What concerns these empires is written 
down in their own language and what concerns the 
Jews is written in Hebrew. Both languages are 
evidences that Daniel wrote the Book. The 
Hebrew especially is the same in style as the 
Hebrew of Ezekiel. 

The Personality of Daniel. We know more of 
the personal history of Daniel, of his character, 
than of any of the other Prophets. What a man of 
faith he was ! In the great Faith chapter of the 
New Testament, in the cloud of witnesses, his name 
is not mentioned, but his deeds are there. " Who 
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought right- 
eousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of 
lions (Hebrews xi. 33). Who is able to describe 
this truly great man? As a mere lad he was brought 
from Jerusalem to Babylon. In a short time he rose 
to the highest position in the empire. He continued 
even unto the first year of King Cyrus. What 
faithfulness is exhibited in his life. His depend- 
ence on God, His deep piety and humility are men- 
tioned in nearly every chapter of the Book. He 
was a great man of prayer. He talked with angels 
and the angel Gabriel addressed him thrice as " the 
man greatly beloved." The Lord appeared unto 
him and he had the visions of God. He outlived 
the captivity of seventy years and was a very old 
man when Jehovah, whom he knew so well and 



io THE PROPHET DANIEL 

whom he had so greatly honored by his faith, gave 
him the promise. " But go thy way till the end 
be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the 
end of the days " (Chapter xii. 13). 



CHAPTER I 

Daniel and His Companions in Babylon 

This chapter forms the introduction to the Book. 
In the foreground stands the sad history of Jeru- 
salem. 

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of 
Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto 
Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoia- 
kim king of Judah into his land, with part of the ves- 
sels of the house of God; which he carried in the land 
of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the 
vessels into the treasure house of his god. 

Divine judgment so long threatened and for so 
many years announced by God's holy Prophets 
came at last upon Jerusalem. The instrument 
chosen by God to execute His judgments was 
Nebuchadnezzar. Three times he came against 
Jerusalem. In 606 B. C. he appeared the first time. 
This is the visitation mentioned here. In 598 he 
came again and took away a larger number of peo- 
ple, including Ezekiel. In 587. he completed the 
work and burned the City. Jehovah had His glor- 
ious dwelling place in Jerusalem in the midst of His 

11 



12 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

people till they had completely failed, and when 
Nebuchadnezzar appeared Jerusalem was given 
over to the Gentiles and the times of the Gentiles 
began. The characteristic of the times of the Gen- 
tiles is that Jerusalem is trodden down. But as the 
times of the Gentiles had a definite beginning so 
will they have a definite end and then Jerusalem 
will no longer be trodden down, but become the 
city of the great King. How the times of the Gen- 
tiles end we shall find in Daniel's great prophecies. 
In the command of the king to Ashpenaz the 
master of his eunuchs to bring of the children of 
Israel, and of the king's seed and of princes to 
Babylon for a thorough Chaldean education, we 
have the fulfillment of another prophecy. It is 
written in Isaiah xxxix. 7. " And of thy sons that 
shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall 
they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the 
palace of the king of Babylon." Among these cap- 
tives were the four lads with their significant 
names, names full of hope and assurance. Daniel 
(God is my Judge) ; Hananiah (Beloved of the 
Lord) ; Mishael (Who is as God) and Azariah (The 
Lord is my help). But their pleasant names were 
changed. And what horrible names they received 
instead: Daniel becomes Belteshazzar, which 
means " Bel's Prince " as Nebuchadnezzar said 
himself " according to the name of my god " (iv. 8). 
Hananiah is named Shadrach. Rak was the name 
of the Sungod and the name means " Illumined by 
the Sungod." Mishael was called Meshach. It 
will be seen that the last syllable in his name " El " 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 13 

which means God, was changed into Shach. This 
in all probability is the name of a goddess like 
Venus. So they changed his name from " Who is 
as God " to " Who is like Venus." Azariah became 
Abednego " the servant of Nego," another false 
god. Behind this change of names stands a satanic 
attempt to wipe out the memory of Jerusalem and 
to have these noble young men give up their separa- 
tion and become assimilated by the Gentiles. 

But Babylon had not reckoned with the faithful 
God of Israel. He overshadowed with His grace 
the poor, lonely captives, and the next we read is 
that Daniel takes a positive stand. Thus the great 
prophet is introduced. He was perhaps about 14 
years old. First he purposed in his heart that he 
would not defile himself with that which accord- 
ing to the Law of God was unclean. No doubt this 
fixed purpose came to the lad by meditation on the 
Law and through communion with God. He thus 
manifested a complete separation from the world 
and its ways. The next step was that he made 
this purpose known. And when he had acted in 
faith he discovered that God had gone before. It 
was God who had brought him in favor and tender 
love with the prince of the eunuchs. Then came 
the test. They are put on their simple diet of pulse 
and water and after ten days (ten is in Scripture 
the number of testing and trial) their countenances 
appeared fairer and fatter in flesh, than the children 
who ate the king's meat. But God does always 
more than we can ask or think and so besides giv- 
ing them bodily strength and fairness He gave 



14 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

them much more spiritually. "As for these four 
children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all 
learning and wisdom, and Daniel had understand- 
ing in all visions and dreams." 

Daniel and his companions witness to the fact 
that God has a faithful remnant among His people 
even in the days of apostasy and judgment. These 
faithful ones headed by Daniel are types of the 
faithful remnant of Jews, suffering and bearing 
witness during the time of the end, the great trib- 
ulation. Of this we shall hear more later. 

But this chapter has also blessed lessons for us. 
We as God's people are in the midst of a world 
which is antagonistic to God and His Truth. This 
great Babylon presses upon us and would, if it were 
possible, blot out every phase of Divine truth and 
rob us of all our joy and peace. How well this 
great enemy of God succeeds ! Look about and see 
the thousands and thousands of God's people who 
instead of being transformed are conformed to this 
world. They have fallen in line with this present 
evil age and instead of being separated, they walk 
in its ways and hence they are barren in spiritual 
things. Our constant danger is that we give up 
our separation and go along with the world. And 
let us not think so much of the pleasures of this 
world, the attractive things for the senses, the 
world spirit which reaches out in coveteousness 
after the possession and enjoyment of earthly 
things; that no doubt is included. But think of 
what is called the " great religious world." That is 
Babylon in the true sense of the word — confusion. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 15 

In the religious world we have the confusion of 
tongues. From what man has made, what man has 
built up, the traditions and commandments of men, 
from all which is contrary to His Word and His 
Will, we are called to separate. Do we desire a 
deeper knowledge of His Word and of Himself? 
Are we craving for a more real enjoyment of the 
things of God? Do we want more spiritual wis- 
dom and understanding? The way is plain. We 
must be separated from that which is evil. We too 
must take a positive stand and dare to stand alone 
and cast ourselves upon a faithful Lord. It is this 
which is taught in the beginning of the xii chap- 
ter of the Epistle to the Romans. " I beseech 
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that 
ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac- 
ceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. 
And be not conformed to this world (age), but be 
ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that 
ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable and 
perfect will of God." We must " cease from evil " 
and then we can learn and understand. The lack 
of power and enjoyment, the indifference of which 
we are so often conscious, the little true heart 
knowledge We possess of the things of the Lord, 
the little real communion with Himself is the result 
of being conformed to this age. Surely God calls 
us in these closing days, as He does all His people, 
to separation from that which is evil. 

But as it was with the Jewish lad Daniel, so it 
must be with us. Meditation on the Word and com- 
munion with the Lord must occupy the first place. 



16 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Then after the heart has purposed, the decisive 
stand and faith laying hold on God for strength 
will follow. Then we shall find Him true as it was 
the case with Daniel. The faithfulness of the Lord 
becomes a blessed reality in the path of separation. 
We too shall find an increase in true wisdom, in 
heart knowledge and progress in the truth. 
Spiritual knowledge cannot be learned, but it is the 
gift of God. If we acknowledge our weakness and 
emptiness, and cast ourselves upon Him, He will 
give that knowledge we need. 

But notice also that while Daniel and his com- 
panions refused to be defiled by the King's meat 
and drink, they did not go without eating and 
drinking. That would have meant starvation. 
They ate pulse and drank water. Pulse means 
some kind of a vegetable. It was a simple fare 
on which they fed. And this likewise has a mean- 
ing. While we turn away from the world and its 
ways we have something to feed on, which makes 
up for all. Our food is Christ Himself and we have 
the water, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And 
as we feed on Christ and are led by His Spirit we 
shall increase in knowledge and grow in the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. His power will keep us 
in an evil day. 



CHAPTER II 

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream 

The second chapter introduces us to the first 
great prophetic unfolding. It may well be called 
one of the great pivotal chapters of the Bible. It 
is the foundation of all the other visions which fol- 
low in this Book. The same revelation we find 
here is given in another form in the seventh chap- 
ter, only more fully. Let us remind ourselves that 
with the 4th verse of this chapter Daniel used the 
Aramaic — Babylonian language. It is used by the 
Prophet to the end of the Seventh Chapter. After 
that he writes in Hebrew. This in itself is a strong 
argument for the genuineness of the Book for after 
the Babylonian captivity Aramaic became the lan- 
guage of the Jewish people. If an impostor had 
written the book he would have written it exclu- 
sively in Aramaic. But as already stated the chap- 
ters written by Daniel in Aramaic concern the great 
empires which used this language and the other 
chapters concern the Jewish people. Now, if we 
divide these prophecies with this fact in mind we 
have at the beginning of the Aramaic portion the 
great dream of Nebuchadnezzar and at the close 
the vision of Daniel, so that the heathen King and 

17 



18 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

the Prophet of God received both communications 
concerning the great world monarchies, the one by 
a dream and the other in dream visions. But if we 
divide the Book in the other way, that is, make the 
First part, Chapter i-vi and the second from Chap- 
ter vii-xii, then we find that each portion (leaving 
out the first chapter which is introductory) has for 
its heading the times of the Gentiles. 

The Times of the Gentiles. This expression 
" The times of the Gentiles " is not found in the 
Book of Daniel, but it is a New Testament phrase. 
Our Lord used it exclusively. In that part of His 
prophetic discourse which is reported in the Gospel 
of Luke and which relates to the fall of Jerusalem 
and the dispersion of the nation, our Lord said, 
" And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and 
shall be led away captive into all nations ; and Jeru- 
salem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until 
the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled " (Luke 
xxi. 24). Now, the times of the Gentiles did not 
begin when Jerusalem rejected the Lord from 
heaven. Our Lord does not say that the times of 
the Gentiles were then ushered in. The times of 
the Gentiles started with the Babylonian captivity 
by Nebuchadnezzar. The Glory of the Lord de- 
parted from Jerusalem. The other great Prophet 
of the captivity, Ezekiel, beheld the departure of 
the Shekinah. "Then did the Cherubim lift up 
their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the 
glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 
And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst 
of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 19 

on the east side of the city" (Ezekiel xi. 22-23). 
But before that Jeremiah recorded a remarkable 
word. These are the words of Jehovah concerning 
Nebuchadnezzar : 

I have made the earth, the man and the beast that 
are upon the ground, by my great power and by my out- 
stretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed 
meet unto me. And now have I given all these lands 
into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, 
my servant ; and the beasts of the field have T given him 
also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and 
his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land 
come : and then many nations and great kings shall serve 
themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the 
nation and kingdom which will not serve the same 
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not 
put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, 
that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, 
and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until 
I have consumed them by his hand (Jeremiah xxvii. 
5-9). 

Jerusalem had been supreme because the throne 
and the glory of Jehovah was there. Though As- 
syria, Egypt and Babylon had tried repeatedly to 
overthrow Jerusalem, they were held in check by 
the power of God and Divine intervention, but 
when the measure of the wickedness of Jerusalem 
was full, Nebuchadnezzar was chosen to become 
the first great monarch of the times of the Gentiles. 
The dominion was then taken away from Jerusalem 
and transferred to the Gentiles. 

For the sake of clearness we mention briefly an- 
other phrase which occurs likewise only once in the 



20 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

New Testament " the fullness of the Gentiles." 
The times of the Gentiles and " the fullness of the 
Gentiles " do not mean the same thing. The fullness 
of the Gentiles mentioned in Romans xi., that great 
chapter touching the status of Israel, is to come in 
first before that blindness which has happened to 
Israel in part is removed. " Blindness in part has 
happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles 
be come in" (Rom. xi. 25). This is one of the 
mysteries Paul makes known. The fullness of the 
Gentiles means the full number of that people taken 
out from among the Gentiles (the church). The 
fullness of the Gentiles coming in, means the re- 
moval of the church from the earth. With that 
event Jewish history will be resumed and God in 
His Grace will call the remnant for their work dur- 
ing the " time of the end." 

The prophecies in Daniel concern the times of 
the Gentiles. Of God's purpose in this present age, 
the calling out of the church, Daniel heard and 
knew nothing. That is a mystery which was not 
known in Old Testament times. (Eph. iii.) The 
prophecies of Daniel are therefore somewhat differ- 
ent from the prophecies of the other Prophets. In 
the land the Prophets prophesied concerning their 
own people, warned against impending judgments 
and predicted the glorious future of Jerusalem ; out- 
side of the land Daniel had visions touching the 
Gentiles and the Gentile events which will precede 
the setting up of the future Kingdom in the midst 
of His people. 

The Forgotten Dream of Nebuchadnezzar. We 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 21 

divide this chapter into five parts. 1. The forgot- 
ten Dream of the king. 2. The Prayer meeting 
and the Divine answer. 3. Daniel before the King. 

4. The Revelation and Interpretation of the dream. 

5. The effect upon Nebuchadnezzar and the promo- 
tion of Daniel and his companions. 

King Nebuchadnezzar had a great dream, which 
caused him much trouble. Later Daniel revealed 
that which had occasioned the dream of the King. 
" As for thee, O King, thy thoughts came into thy 
mind upon thy bed, what shall come to pass here- 
after ; and He that telleth secrets maketh known to 
thee what shall come to pass " (29th verse). How 
much the King knew of what had been spoken 
through Jeremiah concerning the dominion God 
had given him, we do not know. He had returned 
successfully from Jerusalem; what others had not 
accomplished He had, and now he thought on the 
future of his empire, of what should be hereafter, 
after he has passed away. God answered this de- 
sire by a dream. It is one of the great dreams of 
the Bible, in which God reveals His purposes. The 
dream made a tremendous impression upon the 
King. He called his wise men and told them about 
his troubled spirit. The Chaldeans were quite 
ready to tell the King what the dream meant. But 
the King had forgotten the dream. It was gone 
from him. The King demanded that the wise men 
tell him first the dream; twice they demand to 
know the dream and then they would give the in- 
terpretation. The King realized that his wise men 
were miserable deceivers who prepared corrupt and 



22 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

lying words. They in turn confessed their utter 
helplessness. 

The Chaldeans answered before the King, and said, 
There is not a man upon the earth that can show the 
King's matter; therefore, there is no king, lord nor 
ruler that asked such a thing at any magicians, or as- 
trologers, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing the King 
requireth, and there is none other that can show it be- 
fore the King, except the gods, whose dwelling is not 
with flesh (verses io-il). 

Upon this bold language, in which the wise men 
confessed their helplessness and exposed the unrea- 
sonableness of the King's request, they were con- 
demned to die. " And they sought Daniel and his 
companions to be slain." They had received in- 
structions in the Chaldean mysteries, and were 
reckoned with the wise men. 

The Prayer Meeting and the Divine Answer. 
And now our Daniel steps upon the scene. And it 
is a scene of the greatest calmness and faith. It is 
refreshing to see how the man of faith acted. There 
is no hurry, no haste connected with it whatever. 
" He that believeth shall not make haste." It is 
seen from the text that Arioch had gone forth on 
his mission to slay the wise men, and this captain 
of the King's guard came to Daniel. He answered 
him with counsel and wisdom. Brought before the 
King he gave him the assurance that if the King 
would give him time he would show the King the 
interpretation. But notice he did not know the dream 
then. He was as ignorant about that dream as the 
Chaldeans were and yet he told the King positively 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 23 

that he would make known the interpretation. 
This was the language of faith. He had confidence 
in God. He knew the God of heaven was able to 
make known that dream to him, for God gave the 
dream. Perhaps Daniel looked back in faith to the 
history of another captive, another Hebrew lad who 
was in a strange land and to whom God gave wis- 
dom, Joseph. Would God disappoint the youthful 
Daniel in his absolute confidence in God? God 
never disappoints faith. Oh! that we who know 
that the mighty power of God is towards us, might 
also act and walk more in faith, our most blessed 
privilege! When Daniel came to the house where 
his three friends were, he told them what had hap- 
pened. Perhaps they were amazed at his faith. 
But Daniel got them on their knees " that they 
would desire mercies of the God of heaven concern- 
ing this secret." 

What a scene it was! The four young men on 
their knees, acknowledging their utter helplessness 
to the God of heaven, the God of their fathers and 
asking from Him mercies, that He may make known 
the dream. It was a prayer meeting in Babylon 
and the leader was Daniel. What a man of faith 
and prayer he was! Three times a day, we read 
later, he had his windows open towards Jerusalem. 
He and his companions knew of no other way but 
the way of prayer. United prayer is one of the 
greatest needs of God's people in our day. Per- 
plexities and difficulties continually increase. The 
host of demons and their work, the wiles of the 
devil are about us on every hand. While these 



24 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

[wicked powers cast themselves upon that which 
professes the name of the Lord, God's people should 
cast themselves unitedly upon God. What more 
pleasant occupation could we think of than coming 
together as His dearly beloved people " to desire 
mercies " from Him, whom we do not address as 
" The God of Heaven " but " The God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ." He is waiting for the 
prayers and requests of His people. We have so 
little, so little true ministry in the power of the 
Spirit, so little insight into God's purposes and 
ways, so little advance in spiritual things, because 
we are so little on our knees " desiring mercies." 
And the lack of united prayer amongst us is but the 
result of little real prayer in secret. 

And in that night the answer came. Not to the 
three friends of Daniel was the secret made known, 
but God made it known to Daniel in a night vision. 
So to speak he dreamt over the dream of the King. 
God honored Daniel, because he had honored Him. 
And upon this followed one of the most simple and 
beautiful outbursts of praise we have in the Bible. 
Read it and see how Daniel ascribes everything to 
God. It is a sevenfold praise. 1. Wisdom and 
might are His. 2. He changeth the times and the 
seasons. 3. He removeth kings and setteth up 
kings. 4. He giveth wisdom unto the wise and 
knowledge to them that know understanding. 5. 
He revealeth the deep and the secret things. 6. He 
knoweth what is in the darkness and the light 
dwelleth with Him. 7. He gives praise for the 
revelation of what had been asked. How perfect 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 25 

was this praise to God concerning Himself and His 
wonderful ways. 

Daniel before the King. After this outburst of 
praise, giving God the Glory, Daniel went again to 
Arioch, who had been commissioned to destroy the 
wise men and with no timid request he appeared be- 
fore him. He spoke with authority as the mes- 
senger of God. And Arioch rushed into the King's 
presence, as if he deserved the credit for having dis- 
covered the man, who will give the interpretation. 
But how beautiful is Daniel in the presence of the 
King. He stands before the mighty monarch. 
What an opportunity to be elevated and glorify 
self. But Daniel does hide himself completely. His 
God he puts into the foreground and himself all out 
of sight. He tells the King that there is a God in 
heaven that revealeth secrets. Nebuchadnezzar is 
to know the power of God and his dependence on 
Him. Then he tells the King that God has made 
known to him " what shall be in the latter days." 
This is an important phrase. It corresponds to 
" the time of the end " in the second half of Daniel. 
And before he makes known the dream he speaks of 
himself and disclaims all honor in connection with 
what he is about to say to the King. " But as for 
me this secret is not revealed unto me for any wis- 
dom that I have more than any living to the intent 
that the interpretation may be made known to the 
King and that thou mightest know the thoughts of 
thy heart." What humility breathes in these 
words. Daniel puts himself away completely and 
magnifies God. True spiritual knowledge and a 



26 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

deeper insight in God's ways and purposes should 
always be accompanied by humility. Think of the 
great Apostle Paul to whom the mystery concern- 
ing the church was made known, a mystery which 
was hidden in former ages. In the chapter in 
which he speaks of it he calls himself " less than 
the least of all the Saints." We all should beware 
of knowledge which puffeth up, which makes us 
think more highly and better of ourselves; it is a 
dangerous thing. But if we really walk and live 
in the truth we shall be kept from this great 
spiritual danger. Nothing is so sweet and attrac- 
tive as a real knowledge of the truth and humility 
with it. 

The Revelation and Interpretation of the Dream. 
And now we hear Daniel speak to the King: 

Thou, O King, sawest, and behold a great image. 
This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood 
before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This 
image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms 
of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of 
iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou saw- 
est till that a stone was cut out without hands, which 
smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and 
clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, 
the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to 
pieces together, and became like the chaff of the sum- 
mer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, 
that no place was found for them: and the stone that 
smote the image became a great mountain, and filled 
the whole earth (verses 31-35). 

What astonishment must have come over 
Nebuchadnezzar as he heard his dream from the 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 27 

lips of the young captive. The whole dream came 
back to his memory. But greater astonishment 
must have been his when Daniel interpreted the 
dream. 

The great image, the form of a man, is the 
prophetic image of the times of the Gentiles. That 
an image of a man was chosen, an image of great 
dimensions, is significant: In the New Testament 
the Apostle Paul speaks of " Man's Day ; " 1 Cor. 
iv. 3, see margin.) Man's Day describes the times 
of the Gentiles and it is still Man's Day and Man's 
Day will continue till the Lord's Day begins. 

The great image was composed of four different 
kinds of metal, gold, silver, brass and iron and the 
two feet with their ten toes were iron and clay. 
These four metallic parts of the great man-image, 
according to divine interpretation, represent four 
great world empires, which were to appear on earth 
successively. 

Here, indeed, we have history written in advance, 
one of the great evidences of the supernatural 
origin of the Bible. Four great kingdoms, world 
powers, should appear, beginning with Nebuchad- 
nezzar down to the end when the dominion is to be 
taken from the Gentiles and the rule of the Most 
High to be established on the earth. These four 
great world empires have appeared in exactly the 
way as it was shown to Nebuchadnezzar in the 
dream and revealed to Daniel. 

The youthful prophet pointed to Nebuchadnezzar 
and said " Thou art this head of gold." Nebuchad- 
nezzar, the great head of the Babylonian world-em- 



28 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

pire, is represented by the head of gold. But this 
does not mean that morally the king was like fine 
gold. Gold is the type of Divinity. Nebuchad- 
nezzar had received the authority and the dominion 
direct from the God of heaven and this is why gold, 
the most precious metal, is mentioned in connection 
with the Babylonian empire. 

The Kingdom which followed the Babylonian 
and which is represented by the chest and the arms 
of the image, silver being its metallic value, is the 
Medo-Persian world monarchy. We do not trace 
this historically. There is no need for it for every- 
body has knowledge of it. In the Fifth Chapter 
the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire is an- 
nounced. " Peres, thy Kingdom is divided and 
given to the Medes and Persians." Darius, the 
Mede, comes then upon the scene. Its great king 
had been named by the Prophet Isaiah over 100 
years before he (Cyrus) appeared. Here we have 
another fact of Prophecy. This is the reason 
why the critics have tried to discredit Isaiah, 
for they cannot believe that the Spirit of God 
could give the very name and history of an unborn 
being. 

The third great Monarchy which supplanted the 
preceding one is the Graeco-Macedonian. In the 
Seventh Chapter we read the story of how the King 
of Persia was broken by the King of Greece. It 
was a great empire. It is represented by the thighs 
and belly of brass. Alexander the Great, its 
founder, wept because he feared there might be no 
more world to be conquered. His great ambition, 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 29 

like that of Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar, was world 
rule and dominion over all nations and languages. 
The fourth Monarchy during the times of the Gen- 
tiles is represented by iron ; it is the iron Kingdom, 
Rome. This Monarchy is described in one point of 
superiority; it is to be strong. For as iron 
breaketh to pieces and subdueth all things, so this 
kingdom shall break in pieces. This is a perfect 
description of that strong empire, Rome, and we 
need not to explain this further. Equally clear is 
it that that Kingdom was divided into two parts, 
represented in the legs of the image. It was 
divided into the East Roman and West Roman Em- 
pire. The legs are the longest parts of this image 
and by it the fact is represented that this Roman 
Empire is to be in existence longer than any of the 
previous ones. Iron and clay are to be the material 
which compose the feet. We behold then that the 
last form of Gentile world power is represented by 
ten toes, ten kingdoms in the Roman Empire and 
they are of iron and clay, which do not mix. 

Before we proceed with the interpretation of the 
dream let us notice the important truth brought out 
in the composition of this dream image. It tells of 
deterioration. From the most precious metal gold, 
it goes down to silver, brass, iron, and iron and clay. 
This surely does not tell of progress and improve- 
ment in the affairs of the times of the Gentiles. 
The second is inferior to the first. The word 
" inferior " means earthly. The third too is inferior 
to the second and the fourth is superior by its 
brute force and power to crush. According to the 



30 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

modern day conception of the times of the Gen- 
tiles, this image should have been constructed in 
this wise: First a head, composed of the meanest 
good for nothing stuff, earth mixed with particles of 
iron. Gradually the clay gives way and becomes 
iron, the inferior parts are expelled. Then the re- 
fining process continues and iron is changed to brass 
and brass to silver, then coming to the enlightened 
days of the Nineteenth Century and the great 
Twentieth Century with its civilization, we reach 
the fine gold. Well, this is a dream too, but it is not 
a dream given of God, but the dream which the 
Father of lies has inspired. Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream is of God and gives the process of deteriora- 
tion going on during the times of the Gentiles. 

The Final Form of the Times of the Gentiles. 
The ten toes of iron and clay represent the final 
form of the times of the Gentiles. They are typical 
of ten kings. Thus Daniel interpreted the ten toes 
for he said " In the days of these kings " (Verse 
44). In Chapter vii, we shall find an additional 
vision concerning the future of the last monarchy, 
the Roman Empire. The fourth beast has ten 
horns and the ten horns are ten kings. Finally, 
if we turn to our great New Testament Book of 
Prophecy, the Revelation, we find the ten horns 
and the kings they represent there. " And the ten 
horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have 
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as 
kings one hour with the beast" (Rev. xvii. 12). 
There can be no doubt whatever what these ten 
toes represent. But has this division of the Fourth 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 31 

Monarchy been reached? Have we anything in 
history which corresponds to the ten toes in the 
dream image and the catastrophe which is connected 
with it? The Roman Empire as such does not exist 
at all. Europe, the greater part of which with 
Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, and North Africa com- 
posed the Roman Empire, is in a divided condition. 
The iron and the clay are there. The iron repre- 
sents the monarchical form of government. We 
have " the great powers," kings and emperors 
ruling within the territory of the Roman world. 
But what does the clay represent? Clay is of the 
earth. It stands for that which does not belong 
to the great statue at all, a foreign ingredient 
brought in. The metals represent monarchies, but 
the clay stands for democratic rule, the rule by 
the people. This is exactly what we behold in our 
day. There is a strong current towards democratic 
rule, the rule by the people, the exaltation of the 
people. Socialism and its kin, Anarchism, are 
looming up on all sides. What then will come yet 
upon the territory of the Roman Empire? The 
empire will be revived and established once more 
and in that monarchy will be ten kingdoms in which 
the clay is prominently present. We see indica- 
tions of this already, for the people are more or 
less dictating to kings; the kings are ruled over by 
the popular elements. The ten-toe division of the 
times of the Gentiles does not yet exist. First, the 
Roman empire has to be revived and then the 
ten kingdoms come into existence. How this is to 
be brought about, we do not know; but we see 



32 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

indications on all sides that such a condition may 
soon be reached. 

The Stone cut out of the Mountain. We follow 
the interpretation of the dream. Next comes a 
great catastrophe. Nebuchadnezzar beheld a stone 
falling out of heaven and that stone struck the ten 
toes, not the head, but the ten toes of iron and 
clay. Suddenly the whole image collapsed and all 
the metals represented in the image including the 
clay became pulverized like the chaff on the sum- 
mer threshing floor. Then came the wind and 
carried it away. Nothing whatever was left of the 
great colossus. It must have been this part of the 
dream which inspired Nebuchadnezzar with great 
terror. And what became of the smiting stone? 
It became a great mountain and filled the whole 
earth. Instead of an image filling the earth, it was 
a mountain. And Daniel said to the King, 

In the days of these kings (the ten toes), shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom ,which shall never be 
destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other 
people (it shall not be followed by other kingdoms), 
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these king- 
doms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou 
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain with- 
out hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the 
brass, the clay, the silver and the gold; the great God 
has made known to the king what shall come to pass 
hereafter, and the dream is certain and the interpreta- 
tion thereof is sure (verses 44, 45). 

Thus the King had his desire answered to know 
what shall be hereafter and we likewise have an 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 33 

answer here to the question, what is going to be 
the end of all what we behold now in this present 
Gentile age. 

The Stone is Christ. That the stone represents 
Christ is seen from the Scriptures. " Behold, I lay 
in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a 
precious corner stone, a sure foundation " (Isaiah 
xxviii, 16). Zechariah speaks of this stone with 
seven eyes upon it and engraven. We read of Him 
in the New Testament as the foundation stone of 
the church, the cornerstone, the stone rejected by 
the builders. Most interesting is His own word 
in the Gospel of Matthew. " And whosoever shall 
fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomso- 
ever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder " 
(Matthew xxi, 44). Here we have Israel's sin and 
judgment and the fate of the Gentiles. Israel 
stumbled against this stone; for them He was a 
stumbling stone and rock of offence. In conse- 
quence they were broken as a nation. But the 
Gentile world, rejecting Him, will be broken when 
the stone falls. They will be ground to powder by 
the falling stone. Our Lord must have had the 
dream of Nebuchadnezzar in mind when he spake 
these words. The falling stone of which He speaks 
and the striking stone in the dream mean the same 
Person ; Himself. 

When does the Stone Strike? It is strange that 
so simple a prophecy should be misinterpreted. 
But such is the case. Post-millennialists have 
labored to interpret all this as meaning the first 
Coming of Christ. In doing so they have not only 



34 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

miserably failed, but have taken great liberties with 
the Word of God and read into it, what is not here 
at all. Some say that the birth of Christ was the 
beginning of the striking of the heathen world. 
Others think of the day of Pentecost, of the des- 
truction of Jerusalem and other historical events, 
like the edict of Constantine the Great. They speak 
of a spiritual kingdom, which began with the Lord 
Jesus Christ and they actually talk of this stone 
here, which comes down with a crash, as a rolling 
stone, which began with Christ and ever since is 
rolling along throughout the centuries, and as it 
keeps rolling becomes bigger and bigger and bye 
and bye the rolling stone has rolled itself into a 
great mountain, filling the whole earth. Gradually, 
post-millennialism teaches, the kingdom spreads 
over the whole world through the agency of the 
church and gradually heathendom gives way. At 
present we hear much of that kingdom to be ex- 
tended by the Laymen's missionary movement, the 
rolling stone is helped along by immense sums of 
money, to bring in the kingdom. 

But all this is wrong. It makes havoc with the 
entire Word of God ; it leads to confusion worse 
confounded. The Lord Jesus Christ in His first 
coming did not give the command that Gentile do- 
minion should be broken through the Gospel, nor did 
He attack the Roman Empire, which was then in 
full control. Indeed the Roman Empire was of- 
ficially the means of His blessed death on the cross. 
He did not smite the image ; the image, so to speak, 
smote Him. 



THE PROPHET, DANIEL 35 

Now the stone strikes the feet and on the feet 
the ten toes. Hence, before the stone can smite 
there must be ten toes to smite. But when our 
Lord came the first time the Roman Empire was 
a unit. The division into the East and West 
Roman Empire, seen in the two legs of the image, 
had not yet taken place. If no legs were then in 
existence and no feet and nothing seen of the ten 
toes, how then could the first coming of Christ be 
the fulfillment of this dream? All this is very 
simple. The stone strikes the image, when the ten 
toes, the final ten kingdom division of the Roman 
Empire, are in existence. 

A Great Catastrophe. And anyone can see that 
the striking stone cannot mean the peaceful exten- 
sion of a spiritual kingdom, or the preaching of the 
Gospel, but that it is a great catastrophe. It is a 
crushing, destructive blow which this stone de- 
livers. And notice it is AFTER the stone has done 
its smiting work, after the great image has been 
pulverized, that the stone becomes a great moun- 
tain filling the whole earth. The stone which falls 
from above is the Second Coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, His Coming in great power and Glory. 
When the ten kingdoms are in existence, iron and 
clay, a tremendous and awful apostasy from God 
will be in the earth. The great Gentile civilization, 
though it calls itself " Christian," as do the nations 
which compose it, will have become thoroughly 
anti-christian. The opening part of the Second 
Psalm will then be fulfilled. Rebellion against God 
and against His anointed will be in order. Then 



36 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

the destructive blow will come. That which is 
looked for the least, interference from above, will 
take place. The God of Heaven will establish the 
Kingdom of Christ and set His King upon the holy 
hill of Zion. But the first act of God will be the 
complete overthrow and judgment of the last and 
final form of Gentile world dominion. What an 1 
awful act of judgment it will be! Then military 
Christendom will find its end and man's day with 
its boasted progress and civilization and its deifica- 
tion of man will close. Its sun will set in the dark 
clouds of judgment. The hurricanes of divine dis- 
pleasure and wrath will sweep away that which 
defied God and rejected His greatest gift. 

To the natural man and the religious man too all 
this sounds very pessimistic. They often ask, but 
is it possible that all this should come true? No 
matter what man thinks, it is written in the Scrip- 
ture of Truth, the infallible Word of God. Every 
other part of Nebuchadnezzar's dream found its 
literal fulfillment. The crushing stone cut out of 
the mountain without hands, smiting the ten toes 
and pulverizing the entire image, the complete 
passing away of the times of the Gentiles and their 
dominion, will likewise be literally fulfilled. God 
grant that the modern day progress, a progress 
without God and Christ, may not obscure the fact 
of the true end of this age and its seeming glory. 

But there is a bright side to this dark picture. 
The stone which executes judgment becomes also 
a great mountain filling the whole earth. It is the 
picture of the introduction of the Kingdom of our 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 37 

Lord Jesus Christ. Then the true Kingdom of 
Christ, a literal Kingdom, will be set up and all 
the nations of the earth will be brought under the 
glorious and peaceful rule of the Son of Man. Then 
He will come to His own and rule over all nations 
and languages. Then, and not before, the glorious 
visions of God's Holy Prophets concerning the 
Kingdom will be gloriously fulfilled. 

The Effect of the Interpretation upon Nebuchad- 
nezzar. Not a word had come from the lips of the 
astonished King. But now we see him falling on 
his face and worshipping Daniel, the divine instru- 
ment in making the dream and its meaning known 
to him. The King acknowledged Daniel's God as 
the God of gods, the Lord of kings and a Revealer 
of secrets. God is owned by him in a three-fold 
way. The God of gods, as God the Father and the 
Lord of kings, such is our Lord Jesus Christ and 
the Revealer of secrets, the Holy Spirit. 

Daniel receives an exalted position and by re- 
quest his three friends share his promotion. This 
is typical of the blessing which the faithful Jewish 
remnant will receive some day. We must also 
think of Him, who prayed " The Glory which Thou 
hast given Me I have given them." When the day 
of His exaltation comes, when He is manifested, 
we shall be manifested with Him in Glory. As 
Daniel did not leave His friends behind so our ever 
blessed Lord will remember us and give us a place 
with Him on His throne. 

And how long before this final stage of Nebuchad- 
nezzar's dream is to be fulfilled? Let the present 



38 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

day conditions among the nations give the answer. 
Surely it cannot be much longer. Everything seems 
to hasten on towards the close. The end of the 
times of the Gentiles cannot be far off. Before that 
end comes the shout of our Lord will call all His 
Saints into His own presence. For this let us wait 
and pray. 



CHAPTERS III-VI 

The Moral and Religious Conditions of the Times 
of the Gentiles 

The four chapters which follow the great dream 
of Nebuchadnezzar are of a historical charac- 
ter. They do not contain direct prophecies, but re- 
cord certain events which transpired during the 
reign of Nebuchadnezzar, his successor and grand- 
son Belshazzar and Darius, the Mede. On the 
personal history of these three persons and where 
they are found in profane history we have little 
to say, as a deeper examination of this sub- 
ject would lead us too far and would be 
tedious. But this much must be said that 
the criticism which charged Daniel with being 
incorrect has been completely silenced by the 
Babylonian cylinders of Cyrus and Nabonnaid 
and the so-called annalistic tablets, the very 
records of those days. It is true the personality of 
Darius the Mede has not yet been definitely located 
historically. However, we do not believe the Bible 
because its historical statements can be verified 
from profane history. We believe the Bible be- 
cause its records are divinely inspired and there- 
fore correct. What would we know of the genuine- 

39 



40 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

ness of these ancient tablets and cylinders covered 
with cuneiform inscriptions if it were not for the 
Bible? These witnesses from the stones, which in- 
deed cry out, do not verify the Bible, they are rather 
declared genuine and correct by the Word of God. 

These four chapters then give us historical events. 
Each has a prophetic meaning, though direct 
prophecy is not found in them. 

Analysis of the Four Chapters. We give first 
of all an analysis of these four chapters before we 
comment on them briefly. 

Chapter III. The golden image Nebuchadnezzar 
erected. The fiery furnace and the miraculous de- 
liverance of the faithful captives. 

Chapter IV. Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation. 
His dream vision. Daniel's interpretation. The 
Mania of the King and his restoration. 

Chapter V. Belshazzar's feast. The handwrit- 
ing on the wall. Daniel interprets. The fall of 
Babylon. This happened in 538 B. C. or 68 years 
after Daniel had been brought to Babylon. 

Chapter VI. The decree of Darius the Mede. 
Daniel's faithfulness; how God delivered him out 
of the lion's den. The proclamation of Darius. 
This must have happened in the same year when 
Babylon fell. The pictures one sees sometimes 
showing Daniel as a young man standing amid 
lions are not correct. If Daniel was 14 years old 
when he was brought to Babylon he was over 80 
years of age when they cast him into the lion's den. 

The purpose of the Holy Spirit in guiding the 
pen of Daniel in this manner, reporting first these 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 41 

historical happenings, is not difficult to discover. 
These chapters describe the moral conditions pre- 
vailing during two of the great world empires. But 
they also indicate the moral conditions which will 
continue to the very end of the times of the Gentiles. 
We may trace in them the following five things 
which are prophetically foreshadowed: 

1. The moral characteristics of the Times of the 
Gentiles. 

2. What shall happen at the close of the Gentile 
age. 

3. The faithful remnant of His people in suffer- 
ing. 

4. Their deliverance. 

5. The Gentiles acknowledge God as the King 
and God of Heaven. 



CHAPTER III 

The Image of Gold 

Nebuchadnezzar had heard from Daniel's lips, 
" Thou art this head of gold." The poor king be- 
came puffed up and in the pride of his heart at- 
tempted to unify the religious worship of his vast 
empire. He had an immense statue of gold made, 
the image of a man, no doubt, and he set it up in 
the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. It 
was idolatry and the deification of man. Idolatry 
and the deification of man are then the first moral 
characteristics mentioned which are to prevail dur- 
ing the times of the Gentiles. The times of the 
Gentiles produce a religion, which is opposed to 
the God of heaven. The image was sixty cubits 
high and six broad. Seven is the divine number 
and " six " is the number of man. Sixty cubits and 
six reminds us of that familiar passage in the Book 
of Revelation, where we have the number of a man 
given, that mysterious number " Six hundred 
three score and six," that is 666. The image then 
represents man, but the climax of man was 
not yet reached. However, the beginning fore- 
shadows the end of the times of the Gentiles. That 
end is described in the xiii chapter of Revelation. 
This chapter leads us upon the ground of the re- 
stored Roman Empire, when the ten kingdoms are 
established. Then a great Roman emperor, of 

42 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 43 

whom we hear later as the little horn in Daniel's 
vision, will appear and will make a covenant with 
the Jews, which permits them to resume their wor- 
ship. He will break that covenant. Another beast, 
the second beast in Revel, xiii, the personal Anti- 
christ, equally energized by Satan like the head of 
the restored Roman Empire, will put up an image, 
the image of the beast and demand its worship. 
Then the idolatry and deification of man has 
reached its full height. The Antichrist and the 
image will be worshipped ; he will sit in the temple 
of God and show that he is god. We see from this 
brief review how the act of Nebuchadnezzar clearly 
points to the time of the end. 

The civil power tried to force this universal 
religion upon the people. The great governors, 
judges, captains, and rulers had to appear for the 
dedication of the image. But then the whole thing 
had a religious aspect. Listen, after looking at 
this great awe-inspiring image of gold — to the 
sweetest music. The cornet, the flute, the harp, 
the sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer and all kinds of 
music sounds forth. No doubt the Chaldean priests 
approached chanting some sweet Babylonian song. 
Why all this? To stir up the religious emotions 
and aid in this way the worship of an idol. It is 
intensely interesting that the ancient Babylonian 
worship, with its ceremonials and chanting is re- 
produced in Rome, which is called in Revelation, 
Babylon.* 

*The Book by Mr. Hislop "The Two Babylons," gives 
reliable and important information on this fact. 



44 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

And do we not find here lessons likewise for our 
day? We hear from many sides the cries for a 
new religion, for a universal religion. It will surely 
come; yea, it is almost upon us. The age will not 
run out irreligiously. The false worship, the Cain- 
cult is all about us. It is the bloodless religion, the 
religion which exalts man. And there you may 
even now go and hear the sweetest music, the 
finest operatic airs from well trained singers, often 
taken from the playhouses of the world. And the 
magnificent ceremonies and rituals — all great helps 
to worship — yes, but what kind of worship? A 
sensuous, soulical worship, but not the worship in 
Spirit and in truth. The true worship in the Spirit 
does not need the sweet music of the world. 

The Faithful Three. The proclamation had been 
made and when the sweet music was heard all 
nations and languages fell down and worshipped. 
And whosoever did not follow the King's demand 
was to be cast into a fiery furnace. Then came 
the Chaldeans and accused the three friends of 
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 

Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury com- 
manded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 
Then they brought these men before the King. Ne- 
buchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true O 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego do not ye serve my 
gods nor worship the golden image which I have set 
up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the 
sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and 
dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and 
worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye 
worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 45 

midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that 
God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, 
Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the 
King, O, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to an- 
swer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom 
we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery 
furnace and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O 
King. But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, 
that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden 
image which thou hast set up (verses 13-18). 

Nebuchadnezzar finds out that the accusation is 
true. Here are three men who refuse to worship 
the image of gold. And Nebuchadnezzar, whom 
we saw bowing before Daniel and acknowledging 
God, the Lord of Kings and the Revealer of secrets, 
can say now in an arrogant way " Who is that God 
that shall deliver you out of my hands?" But in 
that dark hour the Grace and Strength of God 
covered the three friends of Daniel. What gracious 
words they were permitted to speak! No exciting 
note nor any fear whatever can be discovered in 
their answer to the King. They breathe calmness 
and determination, They were men of faith, and 
faith is seen here in its perfection. They know 
that the God whom they serve is an omnipotent 
God; He is able to deliver them. And then they 
add " and He WILL deliver us out of thy hand, O 
King. But if not, be it known unto thee that we 
will not serve thy gods." What victorious language 
this was ! The raging King stood helpless in the 
presence of these men, with their holy separation 
and determination, born of faith. 

The furnace is heated seven times more, the 



46 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

most mighty men are commissioned to cast the 
three into the furnace heat. The very men who 
cast them down were consumed by the flames. But 
when the King looked towards the furnace he be- 
held to his great astonishment not three men bound 
and burning up, but four men loose and actually 
walking in the fire. " They have no hurt and the 
form of the fourth is like the Son of God." And 
when they were brought up from the fiery furnace, 
no smell of fire was about them, not even a hair was 
singed, only the bands which had bound them were 
burned off. The fire had set them free but it could 
not touch them. But did the King speak true when 
he beheld the fourth like the Son of God? Little 
did he know what he said or what it meant, but 
assuredly he saw in that fire the Son of God, Je- 
hovah, for He had promised His people, " When 
thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be 
burned; neither shall the flame kindle on thee." 
The faithful Lord kept His promise to His trusting 
servants. 

And has not all this been repeated throughout 
the times of the Gentiles especially during the 
Roman Empire? Pagan Rome persecuted the true 
worshippers of God and in great persecutions, mul- 
titudes suffered martyrdom. But think of what is 
worse, papal Rome, that Babylon the Great, the 
mother of harlots. There we find the images and 
the sweet music, the prostrations and political 
power enforcing unity of worship. The fiery fur- 
naces are there, the stake, the most awful tortures 
for those who were faithful to God and to their 
Lord. Think of the story of the Waldensians and 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 47 

Huguenots. And while for these noble martyrs, for 
whom there is a martyr's crown in the coming day 
of Christ, there came no deliverance and their 
bodies were consumed by the fire, yet the Son of 
God was with them and with praising hearts and a 
song upon their dying lips, He carried them through 
the fire. It is interesting to read in expositions of 
Daniel and the Book of Revelation, written in the 
16th and 17th centuries, how the expositors saw in 
papal Rome the Antichrist. But a great fulfillment 
of all this is yet to come under the domineering 
little horn, the beast out of the sea. 

The Remnant of the Time of the End. When 
Antichrist terrorizes Jerusalem and the image is 
set up we read that all who do not worship the 
image of the beast shall be killed. And in that time 
of fiery trial, the great tribulation, there will be a 
faithful Jewish remnant. They will refuse to wor- 
ship the image and many of them will suffer martyr- 
dom while others will be miraculously kept by the 
Lord's mighty power and pass through the great 
tribulation without being harmed by it. 

The blessed application in connection with oufl 
trials, the furnace experiences of God's people, we 
cannot enter into now. But blessed be God, what- 
ever the trial may be, whatever the fiery heat, One 
is always there with His believing trusting children, 
our blessed Lord, the Son of God. In all our trials 
and sorrows the Son of God is with us. And the 
fire but burns off our hands and sets us free. Once 
more the king, acknowledged the God of Shadrach, 
Meshach and Abed-nego. 



CHAPTER IV 

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Vision. His Insanity 
and Restoration 

The fourth chapter is in the form of a procla- 
mation from the King. He relates his experience. 
A time of peace had been reached by him and he 
,was flourishing in his palace, when once more he 
was disturbed by a dream. He saw in his dream 
a high tree in the earth. The tree grew and reached 
unto heaven. It was a fair tree giving fruit and 
shelter. The beasts of the field had shadow under 
it, and the fowls of the heavens dwelt there. But 
all at once a watcher and an holy One, an angel, 
for the angels are the holy watchers, came down 
from heaven with a message. " He cried aloud, and 
said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off his 
branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: 
let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls 
from his branches : nevertheless leave the stump of 
his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and 
brass, in the tender grass of the field ; and let it be 
wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be 
with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his 
heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's 

48 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 49 

heart be given unto him ; and let seven times pass 
over him." 

Once more Daniel interprets through the wisdom 
of God and once again he points to the King. " It 
is thou O King, that art grown and become strong." 
He then announced to him his coming fate. 

They shall drive thee from men, and thy dwell- 
ing shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall 
make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee 
with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over 
thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the 
kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. 
And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of 
the tree ; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee,, after that 
thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. 
Wherefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable unto 
thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine 
iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a 
lengthening of thy tranquillity. All this came upon the 
King Nebuchadnezzar (verses 22-28). 

Twelve months later he walked in the palace of 
the kingdom of Babylon. Then with a haughty 
mien he utters the fatal words : " Is not this great 
Babylon, that I have built for the house of the 
kingdom by the might of my power and for the 
honor of my majesty." Notice the personal pro- 
noun. But while he yet uttered these words a 
heavenly voice was heard which announced that 
the kingdom is departed from him. What Daniel 
had said in his interpretation is repeated from 
heaven. The same hour was the thing fulfilled 
upon Nebuchadnezzar and he was driven from men 
and did eat grass as the oxen, and his body was wet 



50 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown 
like eagles* feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. 
And after the seven times had passed over him his 
understanding returned unto him and he blessed 
the Most High. The last verse of this chapter 
sums up the whole experience of the King, " Now 
I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the 
King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his 
ways judgment, and those that walk in pride, He 
is able to abase." 

The meaning of this is not difficult to find. A 
great tree in Scripture is the symbol of man with 
great power and influence on earth. The Prophet 
Ezekiel, for instance, had a vision concerning the 
Assyrian and he beheld him as a cedar of Lebanon 
with fair branches and of high stature (Ezek. xxxi, 
3). Israel is spoken of as a vine brought out of 
Egypt and God expected fruit from it, but when 
it failed and brought forth the sour grapes (Isaiah 
v), then the Gentiles began to flourish and became 
the big tree with its branches spreading everywhere. 
And we find the tree in the New Testament. In 
the third parable in Matthew xiii, our Lord speaks 
of the mustard tree with its roots in the field, the 
world, and its branches extending far and wide 
while the birds find shelter there. This tree tells 
us of the development of Christendom as a vast 
earthly institution with power and influence. But 
connected with this growth and influence in the 
earth of Gentile dominion is self-exaltation and 
pride. This was the great sin of Nebuchadnezzar. 
He spoke of the Great Babylon which I have built, 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 51 

my power and my majesty. This pride and self- 
exaltation is the work of Satan as pride is the crime 
of the Devil and it must result in Divine judgment. 
So an holy watcher announced that judgment and 
we see the proud king a beast, no longer looking 
up, but down and living like a beast, wandering 
about as a beast till seven times had passed over 
him, then he acknowledged the Most High and is 
restored. The last we hear of Nebuchadnezzar is 
this pleasant record of his restoration, praising 
God. 

And so judgment will come upon this proud and 
self-exalting age of the Gentiles, both political and 
religious. That great big tree will some day be 
hewn down and destroyed, though the root will be 
left. We must also remember the parable of the 
good and the wild olive tree in Romans xi. The 
good Olive tree is Israel ; branches were broken off 
on account of unbelief. The wild Olive tree are 
the Gentiles. They are grafted upon the good 
Olive tree. But God warns against self-exaltation. 
He threatens judgment if the grafted in branches 
are high-minded. He tells these high-minded 
branches that He will cut them out of the good 
Olive tree. This is spoken not concerning the 
church, but Gentile Christendom is in view, the 
great big mustard tree. To-day we behold a boast- 
ing and high-minded Christendom. The crime of 
the devil has never before been so apparent as now. 
Judgment will come, when the tree will be de- 
stroyed. Oh how we should beware in these evil 
days of pride and self-exaltation. With this the 



52 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

child of God steps upon the territory of the enemy. 
May we not seek great things and be in that which 
feeds our proud hearts, but lowly at his feet, be 
clothed with humility. 

And Nebuchadnezzar's great humiliation in be- 
coming a beast for seven times (seven years),* 
points us to the end of this Gentile age once more. 
Apostasy from God will be the great characteristic 
of that end. There will be no more looking up to 
God, but the attitude of the beast will be the atti- 
tude of the nations. We see much of this already. 
They mind earthly things and become the " earth- 
dwellers " so frequently mentioned in the Book of 
Revelation. Madness and bestiality will seize upon 
the Gentiles, after the One who hinders, the Holy 
Spirit is removed. Then proud and apostate 
Christendom will believe the lie and follow the beast 
with its lying wonders. This will last seven times, 
that is, seven years. 

The stump of the great tree which remains in the 
field suggests the fact that the judgments which 
fall upon the nations in the time of the end will 
not completely destroy all nations. Many of them 
will be swept away. For those who wilfully re- 
jected the Gospel and turned away from the truth, 
there is no hope. But there are others which will 
be left and when these judgments are in the earth, 
the nations learn righteousness. 

The millennium is also seen in this chapter in 

*The attempt to ascertain from this "seven times" the 
length of the times of the Gentiles as some do lacks the sup- 
port of Scripture. The seven times mean seven years. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 53 

the restoration of Nebuchadnezzar and in the Praise 
He gives to the Most High. In the previous chapter 
the three friends of Daniel speak of " Our God," 
but in this chapter we hear of " The Most High." 
It is the millennial name of God. We see then in 
the fourth chapter the pride and self-exaltation of 
the Gentiles, and how the Gentiles will be humili- 
ated and judged. First there is self-exaltation, 
that is followed by judgment and then follows 
restoration and the acknowledgment of the Most 
High. 

That nothing more is now reported of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, that the last which we hear of him in 
Scripture is his acknowledgment of the Most High, 
is also not without meaning. It foreshadows the 
universal acknowledgment of God in the Kingdom 
which the God of heaven will set up, when the 
stone fills as the mountain the whole earth. 



CHAPTER V 
Belshazzar's Feast and the Fall of Babylon 

The history of this chapter is so well known 
that we need not to relate it in full. It was in the 
year 538 B. C. that this happened. The end of the 
Babylonian captivity was almost reached and Bel- 
shazzar was reigning over the empire. He was the 
grandson of Nebuchadnezzar and vice-regent of 
the empire; his father's name was Nabonnaid. 

Critics have stated that Nebuchadnezzar could 
not be the grandfather of Belshazzar for Nabonnaid, 
Belshazzar's father, was not a son of Nebuchad- 
nezzar. This objection is seemingly strengthened 
by the fact that no ancient historian gives the name 
of Belshazzar, from which the critics concluded 
that he must be a myth. Berosus, who lived about 
250 years after the Persian invasion, gives the fol- 
lowing list of Babylonian monarchs : 

Nabuchodonosar (Nebuchadnezzar) . 

Evil Marudak, who is the Evil Merodach of the 
Bible. 

Neriglissor. 

Laborosoarchod. 

Nabonnaid. 

Cyrus, the Persian conqueror. 
54 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 55 

Different attempts were made to clear up this 
difficulty, but they failed. Now if Daniel wrote 
his book he must be correct. But the critics are 
ever ready to put the doubt not on the side of 
history, but on the side of the Bible. So they said 
Berosus was not mistaken and that if Daniel really 
had written the book, which bears his name, he 
would have been historically correct. This is 
how matters stood up to 1854. In that year Sir 
Rawlinson translated a number of tablets brought 
to light by the spade from the ruins of the Baby- 
lonian civilization. These contained the memorials 
of Nabonnaid and in these the name of Bil-shar- 
uzzar appeared frequently and is mentioned as the 
son of Nabonnaid and sharing the government with 
him. The existence of Belshazzar and the accuracy 
of Daniel were at once established beyond the 
shadow of a doubt. 

Daniel was promised by Belshazzar to become 
the third ruler in the kingdom (Dan. v, 16). 

Why the third and not the second? Because 
Nabonnaid was the first, Belshazzar his son was 
the second and vice-regent. Nabonnaid had a 
daughter of Nebuchadnezzar for wife and there- 
fore Belshazzar from his mother's side was the 
grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. 

But have the critics learned by this complete 
defeat? Have they profited by this experience and 
will they leave the Bible alone? Not by any means. 
They continue to look for flaws in the infallible 
Book. Some day they will discover the seriousness 
of their work, 



56 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Daniel writes of Belshazzar as the " son " of 
Nebuchadnezzar. This is no discrepancy at all for 
the Semitic languages have no word for " grand- 
father " or " grandson." 

Matters have gone from bad to worse in the em- 
pire. A great feast is held, which was perhaps an 
annual affair. What splendor was exhibited ! A 
thousand lords and princes with their wives and con- 
cubines ! Luxuries and licentiousness were seen at 
that feast. When it was at its height an awful 
blasphemy was committed by Belshazzar. He com- 
manded that the precious vessels which Nebuchad- 
nezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be 
brought that they might all drink out of them. Then 
they blasphemed God and praised their idols. It 
was an open blasphemy and defiance of God. Over 
against the candlestick on the plaster of the wall, all 
at once a man's hand appeared and the King beheld 
the hand that wrote. The whole feast came at once 
to an end. The joy gave way to fear. The King be- 
came pale and his knees shook ; the laughter gradu- 
ally died out as one after another beheld the 
mysterious words which had been written on the 
wall. Once more the Chaldeans and astrologers 
are called and once more they are unable to read the 
writing and give the interpretation. Then the wife 
of Nebuchadnezzar, the aged queen, appears upon 
the scene. She evidently had no sympathy with the 
feast. She calls attention to the forgotten Daniel. 

There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit 
of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father, light 



THE PROPHET DANIEL $Z 

and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the 
gods, was found in him; whom the King Nebuchad- 
nezzar, thy father, the King, I say, thy father, made 
master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and 
soothsayers. Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and 
knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, 
and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of 
doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the King 
named Belteshazzar : now let Daniel be called, and he 
will show the interpretation (verses 11-12). 

Then Daniel is introduced. He was, as pre- 
viously stated, an old man. Years and years had 
passed since he had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's 
dream and sat in the gate of the King, but Bel- 
shazzar had no knowledge of him. Patiently he 
must have waited in seclusion for other service 
His God might give him. The fact that Daniel was 
no longer remembered and neglected is a witness 
of the degeneracy of Babylon. 

Daniel refused the honors of the King, he has to 
offer. He knew that ere long, but a few hours 
more, and the blaspheming King would be no more. 
And Daniel is more than an interpreter of the 
handwriting on the wall. He is God's Prophet and 
messenger. Listen to his sublime words: 



Then Daniel answered and said before the King, Let 
thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to an- 
other; yet I will read the writing unto the King, and 
make known to him the interpretation. O thou King, 
the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a 
kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor. And for 
the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and 



58 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

languages trembled and feared before him : whom he 
would he slew ; and whom he would he kept alive ; and 
whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put 
down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind 
hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly- 
throne, and they took his glory from him: And he 
was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was 
made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the 
wild asses; they fed him with grass like oxen, and his 
body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew 
that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, 
and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And 
thou his son, O, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine 
heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up 
thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have 
brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, 
and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have 
drunk wine in them ; and thou hast praised the gods of 
silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which 
see not, nor hear, nor know : and the God in whose 
hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast 
thou not glorified (verses 17-23). 

Then followed the reading of the letters on the 
wall. Mene, Mene, " Numbered - Numbered " ; 
Tekel— " Weighed " ; Upharsin " and divided."* It 
was the solemn announcement of the impending 
judgment. In that night was Belshazzar the King 
of the Chaldeans slain. How the Persians took the 
city by diverting the river Euphrates, which ran 
through the city is well known from history. 

But what are the lessons here? The last days of 
Belshazzar were days of the lust of the flesh and 
the lust of the eyes. Impiety reached its climax 
in open defiance and opposition to the God of 

* Lit. divides. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 59 

Israel. Babylon was glorying and boasting in her 
own gods and achievements. What does Babylon 
represent? In its final form it is the great religious 
world system which flourishes immediately after 
the church has been called away. This final Baby- 
lon is a great ecclesiastical system, the center of 
which is Rome. Such a system, a universal church 
full of corruption, will be in existence during the 
time of the end, but it will not last to the end. 
According to Revelation that final Babylon will be 
overthrown by the ten horns before the seven years 
are accomplished, with which the Gentile age closes. 

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, 
these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate 
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with 
fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, 
and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, 
until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the 
woman which thou sawest is that great city, which 
reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev. xvii. 
16-17). 

A political power overthrew the literal Babylon 
and a political power will overthrow the ecclesiasti- 
cal Babylon. 

But though we do not yet see this final, great 
ecclesiastical system, because the hour for it has 
not yet come, the material for it is present. We are 
living in the days of Laodicea, the days of boasting 
and vainglory. The days in which we hear on all 
sides, " I am rich and increased with goods and 
have need of nothing." What we hear mostly to- 
day is of the great strides we are making, the glori- 
ous times we are living in and the still better times 



60 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

which are coming. But what is underneath it all? 
An impiety and blasphemy even greater than the 
impiety and blasphemy in the banqueting hall of 
Belshazzar. Hear some of the blasphemies of 
present day Christendom: The Bible is not the 
Word of God, God's holy Word is but a book like 
other books containing numerous errors, myths, 
and legend. Is not this a great blasphemy making 
God a liar? And worse than that, that worthy 
Name, the Name which is above every other name, 
is blasphemed. He is rejected as God's holy Son; 
His virgin birth is sneered at; the blessed death 
on the cross and its meaning for a lost world is set 
aside ; every article of the faith is denied. Are these 
not greater blasphemies than taking golden vessels 
which were dedicated to Jehovah and make them 
profane in a banqueting hall? Yea, the best which 
God could give, the finest gold, His own blessed 
Son, has been and is blasphemed. God will not stand 
this boasting, self-glorying, Christ-blaspheming and 
Christ-rejecting age forever. And the moral de- 
clension is as prominent as the doctrinal departure. 
Luxuries and lusts hold sway on every hand. The 
days of Lot, filled with licentiousness, are becoming 
more evident. The material for the final Babylon, 
the great apostasy is present with us in our day. 
The well deserved judgment to fall upon Christen- 
dom will surely come and not linger. 

And the handwriting on the wall? The same 
hand which wrote on the plaster, over against the 
candlestick in Belshazzar's hall, has written the 
judgment and the doom of apostate Christendom 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 61 

on the pages of the Bible. There is a " Mene, Mene 
Tekel " for the present day conditions of Christen- 
dom. Mene, Mene, " numbered." The days are 
numbered. They cannot extend beyond the time 
appointed by the God of heaven. We do not know- 
when they will expire. God knows that and all 
attempts to find out the year or the times will meet 
with failure and bring dishonor upon God's Word. 
The time is near, that is what many of God's people 
feel in their hearts. 

Daniel having been forgotten with his God-given 
interpretations has also its lesson. So have the 
words of God, the revelations in the Prophetic 
Word been forgotten. Some day they will be 
brought back, but then it will be too late for repent- 
ance, as it was too late for Belshazzar. This moral 
condition of the first empire, Babylon, immediately 
before the judgment came upon it, at the close of 
the 70-year captivity of the Jews, is thus described 
in this chapter. It foreshadows the moral condi- 
tions of the time of the end, when Israel's long 
dispersion is almost ended and when God will cut 
out the ingrafted branches, the Gentiles, and put 
back Israel upon their own olive tree. May we 
hear God's call to separation from that which is 
evil. Babylon — confusion is all about us and God 
wants His people to be separated from that which 
hates and despises His truth. In the midst of in- 
creasing corruption and apostasy we must ever 
honor Christ more in our hearts and lives, be oc- 
cupied with His Word and do His will, so that we 
are not partakers of her sins. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Decree of Darius the Mede. Daniel in the 
Lions' Den and His Deliverance 

In this chapter we are on the ground of the 
second world empire, the Medo-Persian, repre- 
sented in the dream image of Nebuchadnezzar by 
the chest and arms of silver. It is therefore inferior 
and continues in the downward tendency. And 
this comes out in this chapter. Daniel is seen in 
the highest position of the empire, the first of three 
presidents over the whole kingdom, and Darius 
the Mede intended to give him a still greater place 
of honor. Most likely Darius heard of what hap- 
pened in that eventful night when Belshazzar was 
feasting and when the enemy entered the dried-up 
river bed and took Babylon. 

But this condition did not prevail very long. The 
old Prophet, over 80 years of age, is soon envied by 
other presidents and princes. But they cannot dis- 
cover anything whatever in him concerning the 
kingdom." A plan is concocted by them which, ac- 
cording to their mind, will surely rid them of the 
hated Daniel. The plan reveals the cunning of the 
Serpent. With lying tongues they come to Darius 

62 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 63 

to inform him that all the presidents have consulted 
together to establish a royal statute. But as Daniel 
was one of the presidents and had not been con- 
sulted nor agreed to it, they plainly told a falsehood. 

The decree to be established was that for 30 days 
no one in the realm of the empire is to ask a peti- 
tion of any God or man, save Darius. In other 
words, the King is to take the place of God. And 
he who does not do according to this royal statute 
is to be cast into the den of lions. The King is well 
pleased with this proposition for it flatters him. He 
signs the writing and the decree and the laws of 
the Medes were irrevocable, so that it had to be 
carried out. 

Beautiful it is to see Daniel's steadfastness, how 
the man of faith, whose first steps in the life of faith 
are recorded in the beginning of this book, now acts. 
" Now when Daniel knew that the writing was 
signed, he went into his house; and his windows 
being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he 
kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and 
prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did 
aforetime." 

The aged man of prayer, in sweet communion 
with God, continues thrice daily to pray and to 
give thanks. Faith looks away from earthly cir- 
cumstances to an omnipotent Lord. The accusa- 
tion soon follows. The King now discovers that he 
is in a hopeless position. His law demands that 
Daniel be cast before the lions, his heart rilled with 
love towards Daniel demands that he be saved. 
But though his heart was set on delivering Daniel 



64 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

and he labored till the going down of the sun he 
found no way to deliver him. Well may we think 
here of another Law and another Love. God, a 
holy and righteous God and a God of love, found 
a way to save man. God's holy Law condemns 
man, who is a sinner and the curse of the law rests 
upon him. God's Love is set upon the world and 
He " so loved the world that He gave His only 
Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." The 
curse of the Law came upon Him who knew no 
sin and who was made sin for us and therein is 
Love manifested. Daniel is cast into the lions' den 
as our blessed Lord was given to the lion (Psalm 
xxii, 21), and a stone is laid upon the mouth of the 
den and it is sealed with the King's signet. He is 
so to speak in a grave, as good as dead in the eyes 
of the world, for who has ever heard of hungry 
lions not devouring a man. And all this brings 
before us that other place, the tomb in the garden, 
where He was laid and the stone before it, which 
bore the seal of the Roman world power. But as 
Daniel could not be hurt by the lions, so He who 
went into the jaws of death could not be holden by 
death. The tomb is empty and He is victor over 
death and the grave. All this is blessedly fore- 
shadowed in this experience of God's prophet. 

After a restless and sleepless night, Darius, who 
had such regard for Daniel, went very early in the 
morning to the lions' den and cried with a lament- 
able voice unto Daniel. " O Daniel, servant of the 
living God, is thy God whom thou servest con- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 65 

tinually, able to deliver thee from the lions ?" Then 
came the answer which filled the heart of the King 
with joy. Daniel was alive. His accusers and their 
families are given to the lions, which claimed them 
at once. 

Then followed the proclamation of the King: 
" Then King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, 
and languages, that dwell in all the earth ; peace be 
multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in every 
dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear 
before the God of Daniel : for he is the living God, 
and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be 
even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and 
he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in 
earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power 
of the lions." 

In this historical incident we behold almost the 
same characteristic as in the third chapter. There 
was set up the image of gold to be worshipped, 
the deification of man; and here a man is put in 
the place of God, honor and worship is demanded 
for him. That this once more directs our attention 
to the time of the end, when the times of the Gen- 
tiles come to a close, needs hardly to be stated. It 
is significant that the same deification of man is 
mentioned in the second empire, which was shown 
in the Babylonian. It is the characteristic feature 
of every one of these world empires. Nebuchad- 
nezzar and Darius took the lead. 

In the one which followed, the Graeco-Mace- 
donian, we find Antiochus Epiphanes, who took 



66 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

the same place. In the Roman Empire we have 
emperors and others, like Herodes, claiming divine 
honors ; in papal Rome the popes claim infallibility. 
And in apostate Protestantism the deification of man 
appears likewise. But all points to the end, when 
the man of sin, the Son of perdition will appear, the 
final Anti-Christ " who opposeth and exalteth him- 
self against all that is called God or worshipped; 
so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, 
showing himself that he is God" (2 Thessal. ii, 4). 
Of the same person we read also in this Book: 
" And the King shall do according to his will ; and 
he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above 
every god, and shall speak marvellous things 
against the God of gods and shall prosper till the 
indignation be accomplished : for that that is deter- 
mined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the 
God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor 
regard any god : for he shall magnify himself above 
all" (xi, 36,37). 

The deliverance of Daniel once more foreshadows 
the deliverance of the faithful Jewish remnant. It 
is strange that expositors and teachers put the 
church into this time of the end. The church, 
according to the testimony of the New Testament 
Scriptures, will no longer be on earth when this 
predicted time of the end comes. We have then 
seen that these four chapters foreshadow the moral 
characteristics of the times of the Gentiles, down 
to the end, when the stone smites the image and 
it will forever pass away. Self exaltation, the 
pride and deification of man, impiety, blasphemy, 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 67 

hatred, persecution, cruelty, man putting himself 
in the place of God are the leading features. Even 
so it is. 

But we must not pass over the last verse of the 
sixth chapter. "So this Daniel prospered in the 
reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the 
Persian." 

It tells of the prosperity of the man of faith even 
as the delivered remnant will prosper. But here 
is another prophetic type. Isaiah had announced 
the birth and work of this same Cyrus over a 
hundred years before he was born. Let us read 
what Isaiah said of him. 

That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall 
perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, 
Thou shall be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation 
shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to 
Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue 
nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of kings, 
to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates 
shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the 
crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates 
of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; And I 
will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden 
riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, 
the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God 
of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel 
mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name : I have 
surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me (Is. 
xliv. 28; xlv. 1-4). 

This is the remarkable word. What Isaiah had 
announced happened, for under Cyrus the remnant 
returned. God calls Cyrus " my shepherd " and 



68 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

" my anointed." In this he is a type of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Here then is the application. When 
the time comes, when a man, the Anti-Christ claims 
divine honor and worship and when the remnant 
of His people is delivered out of the lion's mouth, 
then another Cyrus appears upon the scene, one 
greater than Cyrus, one who will gather the scat- 
tered sheep of the house of Israel, even our Lord 
Jesus Christ, 



THE SECOND PART OF THE BOOK OP 
DANIEL 

The seventh chapter takes us back to the 
first year of Belshazzar's reign. Daniel, as 
we saw from the fifth chapter had been set aside; 
no dreams had occurred after Nebuchadnezzar's 
insanity and restoration and there was no need for 
his interpretation. How blessed the years must 
have been for him when he could be alone with 
God. While Belshazzar and his kingdom were 
rushing on towards the great overthrowing judg- 
ment, God gave to Daniel wonderful communica- 
tions. These came to him in dream visions. These 
visions likewise cover the times of the Gentiles; 
they reveal mostly the relation of the Gentiles to 
the Jewish people, the conflict between the world 
powers and the people of Israel. Much of that 
which Daniel beheld was fulfilled in past history, 
but all points also to " the time of the end," that is, 
to the closing scenes of the times of the Gentiles. 
The great struggle of this end time, the appearance 
of the little horns and the Anti-christ, the great trib- 
ulation with its unparalled persecutions, the com- 
plete overthrow of the enemies of Israel, and the es- 
tablishment of the kingdom on earth, are some of 
the sublime revelations we find here, 

69 



70 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Perhaps some of the revelations contained in this 
part of the book will never be fully grasped and 
appreciated till that time of the end has arrived. 
The seventh chapter may be looked upon as the 
introduction to this second part of the Book, as 
the second chapter is the introduction to the first 
part. The eighth chapter contains the vision of 
the ram, the he-goat and the vision of the little 
horn. The vision of the seventy weeks is found 
in the ninth chapter and the last three chapters 
give the closing vision of the Book. 



CHAPTER VII 

Daniel's Night Visions and Their Meaning 

In the second chapter we learned that the dream 
of Nebuchadnezzar was occasioned by the desire 
of that Monarch to know what should come to 
pass hereafter. The visions of Daniel must have 
been given to him for a similar reason. He too 
desired knowledge about these great events of the 
future. The question which agitated Daniel's mind 
must have been the question about his own, dear 
people and their future in the midst of all the up- 
heavals he saw in the King's dream, when the 
stone smote the image and it passed away. 
Nothing whatever had been made known in that 
dream about his beloved city Jerusalem. He had 
the writings of former Prophets; as we shall find 
in chapter ix, he studied them diligently. He had 
the Psalms of David likewise, though they may 
not yet have been collected in a book. In all these 
he learned of the future of God's people and the 
glories promised to them in the latter days. He 
also read in the Prophecies of the past that Israel's 
enemies were to be judged and overthrown. No 
doubt the Prophet in deep soul exercise, such as 
we find later in the ninth and tenth chapters 
turned to God " desiring mercies from the God of 
heaven." Whether his three friends were united 

71 



72 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

with him in this we do not know. After the fiery 
furnace experience we read nothing more of Shad- 
rach, Meshach and Abed-nego. 

There are four visions in the seventh chapter. 

I. The night vision of the three beasts (verses 
1-6). 

II. The night vision of the fourth beast with the 
ten horns and the little horn (verses 7-8). 

III. The Judgment vision (verses 9-12). 

IV. The Son of Man and His Kingdom (verses 
13-14). 

Then follows the divine interpretation of these 
four visions. This interpretation may be divided 
into three parts. 

I. A general interpretation (verses 15-18). 

II. Daniel's desire to know more about the fourth 
beast (verses 19-22). 

III. The detailed interpretation given (verses 
23-28). 

The First Night Vision. The Prophet saw in 
his vision the four winds of heaven striving upon 
the great sea, that is the Mediterranean sea. It was 
a scene of storm which he beheld. The sea in the 
Word of God is the type of nations. " The waters 
which thou sawest * * * are peoples, and multi- 
tudes, and nations and tongues" (Revel, xvii, 15). 
" Woe to the multitude of many people, which 
make a noise like the noise of the seas ; and to the 
rushing of nations, like the rushings of mighty 
waters" (Isaiah xvii, 12). The beloved disciple 
in the isle of Patmos, alone with God as Daniel 
the man greatly beloved was alone with Him, John, 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 73 

" stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast 
rise up out of the sea." The sand of the sea stands 
for the multitudes of people while the sea itself 
presents the people in their agitation. Then John 
saw a beast rising out of the sea, a vision which is 
closely linked with this chapter as we shall find 
later. But Daniel beheld in his first night vision 
three beasts, one diverse from the other rising from 
the sea. A lion with eagles wings, a bear, raised 
up on one side with three ribs and a leopard with 
four wings and four heads. These three beasts* 
represent the first three world empires. A brief 
word on each sufficeth : 

" The first was like a lion, and had eagles wings : 
I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and 
it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand 
upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given 
to it." 

As gold is the most precious metal, so the lion 
is the king among the beasts of the forest. The 
gold in the dream image and the first beast repre- 
sent the Babylonian empire. In the beginning it 
was a lion with wings, but they were plucked out ; it 
lost its strength and though it had a man's heart, 
it was a beast still. This may also have connection 
with Nebuchadnezzar's insanity experience.f 

♦In Revelation iv. and v. we read in the A. V. of "beasts" 
but the words there should be translated " living ones " ; they 
are the cherubin of Ezekiel's vision. 

t Even before this Nebuchadnezzar had been described as 
a lion. "The lion is come up from his thicket, and the de- 
stroyer of the Gentiles is on his way" (Jerem. iv. 7). Else- 
where he is spoken of as an eagle. 



74 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

"And behold another beast, a second, like to a 
bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had 
three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of 
it : and they said unto it, Arise, devour much flesh." 

The bear stands for the Medo-Persian empire, 
the empire seen as of silver, the chest and arms. 
One paw is lifted up, because the Persian element 
was stronger than that of the Medes. The bear 
had three ribs in its mouth, because Susiana, Lydia 
and Asia Minor had been conquered by this power. 
In the eighth chapter this Medo-Persian empire is 
represented by the ram with two horns. 

" After this I beheld, and lo another, like a 
leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings 
of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and do- 
minion was given to it." 

The leopard, with four wings and four heads, is 
the picture of the Graeco-Macedonian empire, cor- 
responding to the thighs of brass in the image of 
Nebuchadnezzar. The four wings denote its swift- 
ness, the four heads the partition of this empire 
into the kingdoms of Syria, Egypt, Macedonia and 
Asia Minor. It is seen in the next chapter as the 
rough he-goat with a notable horn (Alexander the 
Great) and the little horn (Antiochus Epiphanes). 
The fourth beast was not seen in the first vision. 
Before we turn to the second night vision of the 
Prophet we call attention to the fact that in the 
selection of beasts to represent these world powers 
who domineer the times of the Gentiles, God tells 
us that their moral character is beastly. The lion 
devours, the bear crushes, the leopard springs upon 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 75 

its prey. The next, the fourth and last world em- 
pire is so beastly that no beast on earth is found to 
describe its true character. The great nations of 
Christendom, the nations which will be included 
in the future revival of the Roman empire in its 
ten kingdom aspect, testify unconsiously to their 
devouring, beastly, ferocious nature. The emblem 
of not one of these nations is the dove or any other 
harmless creature. But you find the lion, the bear, 
the unicorn, the eagle and sometimes a monstrosity, 
an eagle with two heads. Their standing armies, 
their ever increasing navies both on the sea and 
now even of the air, tell us beforehand that some 
coming day in the near future, the dogs of war 
will be let loose and the beasts will do their most 
dreadful work. 

The Second Night Vision 

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a 
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceed- 
ingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and 
brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet 
of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were 
before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the 
horns, and, behold, there came up among them another 
little horn, before whom there were three of the first 
horns plucked up by the roots : and, behold, in this horn 
were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking 
great things (verses 7-8). 

Here then we have the fourth world empire, 
the iron one, Rome. It is described in a way as 
none of the others are. It is dreadful, terrible, ex- 



76 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

ceeding strong ; it has great iron teeth. It devours, 
breaks in pieces and stamps down. It has ten 
horns and in their midst rises up a little horn with 
eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking 
great things. 

Inasmuch as Daniel received more light on this 
beast and the interpretation of this vision was given 
him, we shall not now enter into a description of this 
fourth beast, the meaning of the ten horns and the 
little horn. But we shall do so when we reach the 
second half of the chapter. 

The Third Night Vision 

I beheld till the thrones were set, and the Ancient of 
Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and 
the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne 
was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him : 
thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thou- 
sand times ten thousand stood before him; the judg- 
ment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld 
then because of the voice of the great words which the 
horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and 
his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 
As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their 
dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged 
for a season and time (verses 9-12). 

This vision bring us to the close of the times 
of the Gentiles. When the fourth beast with the 
ten horns and the little horn, the last thing spoken 
of this world empire, is in full swing, then the 
end comes. It is a great judgment scene which is 
here before us. How different the end of this age 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 77 

as revealed in the Word and as it is believed in 
Christendom. The great mass knows nothing 
whatever about this age coming to an end. It will 
go on indefinitely, so they believe, and its future 
is world progress, better times and the triumph of 
the Christian civilization. But others concede that 
a judgment must come and they think of the judg- 
ment here as the universal judgment, the great 
white throne judgment. This judgment is not the 
last judgment at all. It is a judgment which pre- 
cedes the final judgment by 1000 years. This judg- 
ment here must be read in connection with passages 
like Matthew xxv, 31-46 and Rev. xix, 19-21. In 
reading the last passage no one can doubt that we 
have the same judgment here revealed to Daniel. 
But who is the One, who occupies the central place 
in this vision of judgment? There can be but one 
answer. It is our ever blessed Lord and' Saviour 
Jesus Christ. John v, 22 gives the conclusive 
answer. " For the Father judgeth no man, but 
hath committed all judgment unto the Son." The 
Ancient of Days is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is 
still more demonstrated if we turn to John's great 
Patmos vision. 

"And I turned to see the voice that spake with 
me. And being turned I saw seven golden candle- 
sticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks 
one like unto the Son of man clothed with a gar- 
ment down to the foot, and girt about the paps 
with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs white 
like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as 
a flame of fire." (Rev. i, 12-14) 



78 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

The judgment falls upon the fourth beast and 
the little horn, which had risen from amidst this 
fourth beast, and had acted together as one. This 
judgment upon them is complete and final. The 
former beasts had been judged too in their time, 
their supremacy had been taken away but their 
lives had been spared. 

The Fourth Night Vision. Then there is a fourth 
vision which is closely connected with this vision 
of the Ancient of Days and the judgment of the 
fourth beast. 

I saw in the night vision and, behold, one like the 
Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came 
to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near be- 
fore him. And there was given him dominion, and 
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and 
languages, should serve him : his dominion is an ever- 
lasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his 
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (verses 
13-14). 

Our Lord appears now as Son of Man to receive 
the earthly kingdom. The stone which smote the 
image, as beheld by Nebuchadnezzar now becomes 
the mountain filling the whole earth. The Ancient 
of Days represents in this vision God, who gives 
to Him who is the Son of Man the Kingdom. He 
who is the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Son of 
God, the Mighty God, Jehovah, is also Son of Man. 
The vision is in harmony, with other vision God's 
prophets saw, and fully confirmed by the testimony 
of the Lord and the Holy Spirit in the New Testa- 
ment as well as by the Book of Revelation. A 



THE PROPHET DANIEL ' 79 

kingdom is to be set up on this earth, a kingdom 
into which all people and nations will be gathered, 
a kingdom over which one great and glorious King 
will sway His scepter, whom all nations and langua- 
ges shall serve. This is the kingdom for which the 
Lord taught His disciples to pray " Thy kingdom 
come." He Himself is the King of glory. That 
kingdom is not now on earth. It cannot be here 
till the fourth beast with its ten horns and the 
eleventh little horn with all its blasphemies have 
been on the earth. It cannot come until He comes 
again. The second Coming of Christ terminates 
Gentile rule and establishes the kingdom on the 
earth. In other words the vision here is an expan- 
sion of Nebuchadnezzar's dream concerning the 
smiting stone, crushing first then filling the whole 
earth as a mountain. 

The Interpretation. The effect of these visions 
on Daniel was a troubled spirit. Then we read : 

I came near unto one of them that stood by, and 
asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and 
made me know the interpretation of things. These 
great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which 
shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the 
Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the 
kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever (verses 
16-18). 

One stood by and Daniel turned to that One, 
who possessed higher knowledge than he possessed. 
A brief but perfect answer follows. First he told 
Daniel what the four beasts represent but he also 
reveals to him, what in Nebuchadnezzar's dream 



80 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

nor in his own dream visions had not been seen, 
namely, that the Saints of the Most High shall re- 
ceive the kingdom, and possess it forever and ever. 
In the vision the Son of Man was seen taking the 
Kingdom but the interpreting One tells Daniel that 
the Saints of the Most High shall receive it with 
Him. 

Who are the Saints of the Most High? The fact 
that the term " Most High " is in the plural and 
may also be translated with " The most high or 
heavenly places " has led some expositors to say 
that the Saints are the same, who are seen in the 
Epistle to the Ephesians in which " the heavenly 
places " are repeatedly mentioned, in other words 
the Saints, which compose the church. It is true 
the church will be with the Lord in Glory and " we 
shall reign over the earth,'* but this does not neces- 
sarily mean that the Saints here represent the 
church. There are other Saints besides " Church 
Saints." The Saints of whom Daniel was thinking 
were his own beloved people. To that people is 
promised a kingdom in the days of the Messiah. 
With Him the Lord in Glory, there is a heavenly 
people, so as Messiah and the Son of Man in con- 
nection with the earth He has an earthly people, 
Saints which will receive and possess with Him 
that kingdom which will fill the whole earth. These 
Saints are the Godfearing Jews, who pass through 
the great tribulation and inherit the blessings and 
promises which God gave through their own 
prophets. 

But the interpretation concerns mostly the ten 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 81 

horns on the fourth beast and the eleventh little 
horn. 

Daniel Desires Knowledge About the Fourth 
Beast. Daniel was very anxious to know more 
about the fourth beast, that was diverse from the 
others, with its iron teeth and nails of brass. 

Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, 
which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dread- 
ful, whose teeth were of iron; and his nails of brass; 
which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the res- 
idue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in 
his head, and of the other which came up, and before 
whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and 
a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was 
more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same 
horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against 
them; Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment 
was given to the saints of the Most High ; and the time 
came that the saints possessed the kingdom (verses 
19-22), 

The eleventh horn, that had eyes and the boast- 
ing mouth, seemed to perplex his spirit the most, 
for he saw that this horn made war with the 
Saints and prevailed over them. The Prophet's 
heart was so fully identified with his people and 
concerned about them that he wants to know the 
truth about all he had seen. 

The Wish Granted. The interpretation of the 
vision in a more complete way follows upon this 
expressed desire of the Prophet. In the 23d verse 
Daniel hears that this fourth kingdom is to devour 
the whole earth. It is, of course, the Roman Em- 
pire, and in its final uprising it will extend its in- 



82 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

fluence over the whole earth. It is wrong to limit 
this word to the land of Israel or to Europe. The 
influence of the last great head of the revived Roman 
Empire will extend beyond the boundaries of what 
used to be the Roman Empire. It could not be 
otherwise in a day when nations are brought in such 
close contact and the ends of the earth are brought 
together. America will no doubt be involved in all 
this. 

And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings 
that shall arise: And another shall rise after them; and 
he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 
three kings. And he shall speak great words against 
the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the 
Most High, and think to change times and laws: and 
they shall be given into his hand until a time and times 
and the dividing of time (verses 24-25). 

The Ten Horns are Ten Kings. The ten horns 
on the fourth beast correspond to the ten toes of 
Nebuchadnezzar's dream image ; they are ten kings. 
The Roman empire has never existed in this form, 
as we have already stated in connection with the 
second chapter. The Roman empire must therefore 
some day be revived politically. It will be one 
great world power, an undivided empire, yet in it 
there will be ten kingdoms. When the Roman em- 
pire is thus revived and divided into ten kingdoms, 
another horn will spring up for 1260 days, for a 
time and times and dividing of time, that is three 
years and a half, this little horn will be in power 
over this empire and act in the awful way revealed 
in this interpretation. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 83 

As this revived Roman empire and the little 
horn is one of the most important revelations in 
this book and in the entire prophetic Word we must 
become clear on it. 

The last book in the New Testament, the Revela- 
tion will help us much in this. In the thirteenth 
chapter we find that which corresponds to this 
vision of Daniel. 

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a 
beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten 
horns, and Upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his 
heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I 
saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the 
feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; 
and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat and 
great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were 
wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: 
and all the world wondered after the beast. And they 
worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the 
beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who 
is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with 
him? And there was given unto him a mouth speak- 
ing great things and blasphemies; and power was 
given unto him to continue forty and two months. 
And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, 
to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them 
that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him 
to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: 
and power was given him over all kindreds, and 
tongues, and nations (Rev. xiii. 1-7). 

The beast which John saw rising out of the sea 
is the Roman Empire.* The ten horns with crowns 

* The leopard, the bear and the lion are mentioned by John. 
This beast out of the sea is an amalgamation of the three pre- 
vious beasts, or world empires. The preceding ones arc 



84 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

(or diadems) are identical with the ten horns on 
the fourth beast. Of the same beast we read in 
Rev. xvii, 8 " the beast that thou sawest was and 
is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, 
and go into perdition." This means that the Roman 
Empire was and is not. It ceased existing in 476 
A. D. It will come into existence again, when the 
times of the Gentiles come to their end. That end 
will cover twice three years and a half, a truth made 
known to Daniel likewise in the ninth chapter. 
First the Roman Empire will be revived politically 
in the beginning of these last seven years. This 
revival is stated in the vision of John when he saw 
the beast rising out of the sea. But it will also 
descend out of the bottomless pit, the dragon will 
give him his power and his seat and great authority. 
This is the Santanic occupation of the empire ; it will 
be energized by Satan himself. This awful phase 
will be reached in the middle of the seven years. For 
three years and a half, for 42 months 1260 days, 
the " time of the end " Satan's power will be mani- 
fested in this revived Roman Empire. In the 
twelfth chapter of Revelation we read that Satan 

absorbed by the last. It is noteworthy that the order is re- 
versed. First the leopard (the Grecian Empire) then the 
bear (the Medo- Persian) then the lion (the Babylonian). 
Daniel beheld them in their future rise ; John looks back over 
their existence. The revived Roman empire will combine all 
that which has been during the times of the Gentiles in one 
great monster. 

The seven heads of the beast and other features brought 
out in the Book of Revelation we do not enter into for it 
would necessitate a closer analysis of the entire third part 
of the Book of Revelation. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 85 

will be cast out of heaven and at once in the thir- 
teenth we see a manifestation of his power on the 
earth. The casting out of Satan takes place in the 
middle of the seven years and then it is when satanic 
power will be manifested in the revived empire. 
It will center in a person and that person is identi- 
cal with the " little horn " Daniel saw coming up 
between the ten horns. After the Roman Empire 
has been reconstituted and divided into ten king- 
doms, a person will come upon the scene who will 
be the head, and that head will be endued with 
supernatural, satanic power, so that all the world 
will wonder after this beast. The head will be an 
emperor. One of the heads was healed of the 
deadly wound. This no doubt has reference to 
the imperial power, a form of government in the 
Roman Empire, which ceased, but which will come 
out of death, so to speak. We only need to com- 
pare what is said to Daniel in the divine interpreta- 
tion and what John saw to find that the little horn 
and the beast out of the sea have the same 
characteristics. 

Daniel Revelation 

Daniel saw the fourth John beholds a beast out 

beast, a great nondescript, of the sea, with ten horns 

with ten horns. crowned (ten kings) and 

The little horn "had eyes seven heads, 

and a mouth that spake very To the beast " was given 

great things." a mouth speaking great 

The little horn : " He shall thing and blasphemies." 

speak words against the The beast : " He opened his 

Most High." mouth in blasphemy against 

The little horn: M He shall God," 



86 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

wear out the Saints of the The Beast: "And it was 
Most High." given to him to make war 
The little horn's time of with the Saints and to over- 
domineering power is "a come them." 
time and times and dividing The Beast has power for 
of times." 42 month (3^2 years). 

We see from this parallel that the same things 
are said of the beast in Revelation xiii which are 
said of the little horn. They must therefore be 
identical. But how can we harmonize this if Reve- 
lation xiii, the beast out of the sea, means the 
resurrected Roman Empire? There lived a French 
King, Louis XIV, and in a famous speech he made 
the declaration " I am France." The little horn will 
possess such domineering powers, given to him by- 
Satan, that he too can say " I am the Empire." He 
will control the entire political sphere of the em- 
pire and that gives to it his own Satanic God-defy- 
ing character. In Daniel we see the same lesson, 
only in another setting. The empire will fall in 
judgment on account of the little horn. 

The Three Great Actors of the Time of the End. 
This little horn, the head of the revived Roman 
Empire is frequently called the Antichrist. We 
shall find in the next chapter another little horn 
mentioned. Some teachers of the Word identify 
the little horn in chapter viii with the little horn 
in the seventh chapter and do not at all distinguish 
between the two. In other parts of the Word 
predictions are made concerning a false king, a 
Wicked One, the Man of Sin, the idol shepherd, 
the head over many countries, etc. These are often 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 87 

classed as one and the same person and called by 
one name, the final Antichrist. But this only works 
confusion and mixes up the prophetic Word in such 
a way that its meaning becomes beset with difficul- 
ties. The Book of Daniel speaks of three great 
actors of the time of the end, all three will be ener- 
gized by Satan and endued with his power. 

The Head of the Roman Empire. The first to 
come upon the scene will be the little horn of 
Daniel's vision, the beast out of the sea, the nations. 
He will be a Gentile. That he is Satan's man is 
seen not alone in this book, but also in Revelation. 
He acts out Satan's part and takes control of the 
political affairs, but he also gives attention to re- 
ligious things. He is called in the ninth chapter of 
Daniel " the prince that shall come." His origin 
is given there likewise as we shall find when we 
reach the chapter. He will be friendly to the Jews 
who have returned in part to the land, but his 
friendliness is only assumed. He will enter into 
a covenant with the Jews. This covenant he will 
break and in league with the Antichrist he will 
institute the great tribulation, the time of Jacob's 
trouble. The true character of this Roman Head 
will come out in the middle of the week, when 
Satan actually possesses him. In the beginning 
of the Nineteenth Century a man was upon the 
scene who was friendly towards the Jews and whose 
aim was a united empire and world conquest, 
Napoleon I. Some time in the Twentieth Century 
a similar political leader may appear and assume 
the rule of an emperor, President of the world, king 



88 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

of all the kings or some such name. He will come 
surely in the garb of an angel of light, practising 
deception, till his true character will be manifested. 
The Personal Antichrist. Another person is the 
personal Antichrist. The little horn in Daniel vii 
and in Daniel viii must not be identified with this 
person. The Antichrist, he of whom we read in 
2 Thessal. ii is mentioned only once in the Book of 
Daniel. In chapter xi, 36, etc., we find his portrait.. 

And the king shall do according to his will; and he 
shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every 
god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God 
of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accom- 
plished: for that that is determined shall be done. 
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the 
desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall 
magnify himself above all. 

He is the same whose coming our Lord predicted 
in John v, " I am come in My Father's Name, and 
ye received Me not; if another come in his own 
name, him ye will receive." He comes with a flat- 
tering tongue and the Jews will receive him and 
hail him as their long looked for deliverer. He will 
take the place of a king amongst them. Isaiah 
xxx, 33; lvii, 9; Daniel xi, 36. He is seen in the 
thirteenth chapter of Revelation as the second beast 
out of the earth. He has two horns like a lamb, 
but speaks like the dragon. He imitates Christ. 
He possesses all the power of the first beast, which 
is Satanic power. He has power to work wonders 
and make fire to fall out of heaven in the sight of 
men. Then he deceives them that dwell on the 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 89 

earth by the means of those miracles. It is a ful- 
fillment of 2 Thessal. ii, 9-12. 

Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all 
power and signs and lying wonders. And with all de- 
ceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; 
because they received not the love of truth, that they 
might be saved. And for this cause God shall send 
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 
That they all might be damned who believed not the 
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

His sphere will extend beyond the Jews in Pales- 
tine. He will be the accepted false Christ of the 
Jews and the Antichrist for apostate Christendom. 
He will demand of those who dwell on the earth 
that they make an image of the first beast, the little 
horn in chapter vii. Then he gives life to the image 
that it should speak. All who refuse to worship 
are killed. In Rev. xvi, 13 and xix, 20 he is called 
the false prophet, because he is a religious leader. 
The Psalms and other portions of the Scriptures 
contain references to this second one, who takes 
such a prominent part in the time of the end. 

The King of the North. The third person is the 
king of the North. He is the little horn of chapter 
viii and is typified by Antiochus Epiphanes. Ac- 
cording to Daniel xi he emanates from the North 
and enters into the glorious land where he shall 
find a miserable end. He is the Assyrian in the 
prophets Isaiah and Micah, the one from the North 
in Joel's prophecy. He is the great external foe 
of the restored Jewish people. 

These three great actors during the time of the 



90 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

end appear in the prophecies of Daniel and if the 
reader does not distinguish between them the 
prophecies will not be intelligible. 

The Work of the Little Horn. Having ascer- 
tained who is represented by this little horn, the 
head and leader of the revived Roman Empire, let 
us see what his satanic work will be. We find 
exactly five things mentioned: 

(1) He shall subdue three kings. He will do 
away with three of the kingdoms, so that seven 
are left. 

(2) He shall speak great words against the most 
High. He is a wicked one blaspheming God and 
defying His Word. He will suit perfectly apostate 
Christendom with its higher critics and sneering 
infidels, who deny inspiration, prophecy and 
miracles. 

(3) He makes war with the Saints and prevails 
against them. Under his regime those who still 
hold to God and His Word will suffer great perse- 
cution. 

(4) He shall wear out the Saints of the most 
High. The Jewish remnant especially will be the 
object of his satanic hatred. 

(5) He thinks of changing times and laws. This 
was done during the great French revolution. It 
will be done on a larger scale by the little horn. 
He will overthrow all existing order and laws, 
therefore he is the lawless one. The times and 
laws will be given into his hands, not the Saints 
of the most High, as some expositors have stated. 

The End of the Little Horn. The rule of this 
satanic head of the Roman Empire will last a 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 91 

time, times and dividing of times, that is one year, 
two years and a half a year. This makes exactly 
1260 days or 42 months. (See Rev. xi, 2-3 and xii, 
6,1.) 

At the end of that time the Son of Man appears, 
the stone falls. 

" But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take 
away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it 
unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion 
and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of 
the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting 
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey 
him." (Verses 26-27) 

The Kingdom from above will be set up and the 
Saints of the most High receive the Kingdom and 
the kingdoms of this earth will become the king- 
doms of God and His Christ. Satan had his throne 
on the earth and gave that throne to the beast, the 
little horn. The little horn will then be dethroned 
and the true King of kings enthroned upon the 
holy hill of Zion. 

Deep soul exercise followed from this vision for 
the prophet. His thoughts troubled him and his 
countenance was changed. No doubt prayer and 
supplication as well as earnest study of the Word 
of God he possessed in part followed. The Lord 
grant to us such exercise as well, especially in a 
day when we stand upon the threshhold of the 
fulfillment of these visions. But before the beast 
can rise, before the little horn will appear on the 
scene, the Lord will call His own to be with Him- 
self. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Vision of the Ram and He-Goat 

We remind the reader once more of the fact that 
beginning with the seventh chapter to the end of the 
Book of Daniel the language employed is Hebrew. 
The reason for this change has been stated before. 
From now on we are led in prophecy mostly upon 
Jewish ground and events are revealed, which 
will take place at the close of the times of the Gen- 
tiles. These events will be enacted in the holy 
land and in the city of Jerusalem. The phrases 
"the latter time"— "the time of the end "— " in 
the last end of the indignation " appear several 
times in these chapters. They describe the same 
period of time we found in the seventh chapter, 
" a time and times and dividing of time " that is 
three years and a half, the prophetic 1260 days or 
42 months in the Book of Revelation. It is the 
great tribulation, with which the times of the Gen- 
tiles close. This great tribulation is the time of 
Jacob's trouble (Jerem. xxx, 4). Our Lord in 
Matthew xxiv in that part of the Olivet discourse, 
which describes the end of the age, calls attention 
to the Prophet Daniel and immediately after He 
said " for then shall be great tribulation such as 

92 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 93 

was not since the beginning of the world to this 
time, no, nor ever shall be." Jerusalem will be the 
great storm center of that predicted tribulation. 

The prophecies of the eighth and ninth chapters 
have found a partial fulfillment in the past. But 
they also relate to the time of the end, in which the 
final fulfillment will be accomplished. The awful 
invasion of the land of Israel and wickedness of 
Antiochus Epiphanes 168 B. C. is a prophetic type 
of another invasion during the last end of the indig- 
nation. Then once more another King of the North 
will invade the land and lay siege to Jerusalem. 

The great prophecy contained in the ix chapter 
is likewise in greater part fulfilled. Only the last 
week remains unfulfilled. This last week of seven 
years includes " the time of the end." It will help 
the reader to link chapters vii and ix together and 
chapters viii and xi. In chapters vii and ix the 
West, that is the Roman Empire, is prominently 
in the foreground. The little horn in chapter vii 
corresponds to " the prince that shall come " in 
chapter ix. In chapters viii and xi we are in the 
East, and the little horn of chapter viii and the 
" King of the North " who enters the glorious land 
as predicted in chapter xi are the same person. If 
the reader holds this clearly in mind, it will prove 
helpful in understanding this part of the book. 

Daniel viii-xii should be divided into three parts, 
for it contains three great visions. First, the vision 
of the Ram and the He-goat. Chapter viii. Second, 
the vision of the Seventy weeks. Chapter ix. 
Third, the great final vision. Chapters x-xii. 



94 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

The Time of the Vision of the Ram and He-Goat. 

The vision of the viii chapter was given to the 
Prophet in the third year of the reign of the grand- 
son of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar. It was the 
year when the feast of blasphemy was held and 
Babylon fell. Then God took His faithful servant 
aside and revealed to him new things concerning 
the future. The Prophet was in Babylon when he 
received this vision. But in spirit, in the vision he 
was transported to Shushan, the chief city of Elam, 
which became one of the capitals of the Medo- 
Persian empire. This city is also mentioned as 
the home of faithful Nehemiah and the entire story 
of the Book of Esther happened there. In spirit 
he finds himself " near the fortress " (not in the 
palace) by the river of Ulai. 

The Vision Itself. The vision concerns the 
second and third empires. These were represented 
in Nebuchadnezzar's dream image by the chest of 
silver and the thighs of brass and in Daniel's vision 
by the bear with the three ribs and the leopard 
with the four wings and four heads. The Medo- 
Persian empire and the Grecian are before us in 
the vision. The Medo-Persian appears as the ram 
with two horns, one higher than the other and the 
higher one came last (verse 3). The second empire 
was composed of two powers the Medes and the 
Persian, the latter arose to superiority and became 
the domineering element. This is indicated by the 
one horn higher than the other and corresponds to 
the bear in Daniel's vision with one side lifted up. 
Here indeed is history prewritten for all was re- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 95 

vealed when the Babylonian empire was still flour- 
ishing. No wonder higher critics and kindred in- 
fidels have tried their very best to break down the 
authenticity of this book and have invented their 
clever schemes by which they try to show that all 
was written after the Medo-Persian empire had 
come into existence. Then Daniel beheld the rapid 
conquest made by the second empire. It pushed 
itself in three directions, westward, northward, and 
southward. In Daniel's vision the bear had three 
ribs in its mouth. Thus all corresponds. 

All at once a he-goat came rushing from the 
west. Its speed was so great that it did not touch 
the ground and the he-goat had a notable horn. 
This he-goat in its swift advance is the leopard 
empire with the four wings as Daniel saw it, the 
Grecian world power. The notable horn is none 
other than its King, Alexander the Great. Then 
follows a deadly conflict. The he-goat rushes 
into the ram. The result was disastrous for the 
ram, the Medo-Persian empire. 

And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was 
moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and 
brake his two horns; and there was no power in the 
ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the 
ground, and stamped upon him : and there was none 
that could deliver the ram out of his hand (verse 7). 

334 B. C. the notable horn, Alexander, in goat- 
like fashion, leaped across the Hellespont and 
fought successful battles, then pushed on to the 
banks of the Indus and the Nile and from there 
to Shushan. The great battles of the Granicus 



96 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

(334 B. C), Issus (333 B. C), and Arbella (331 
B. C.) were fought and with irresistible force he 
stamped the power of Persia and its King, Darius 
Codomannus, to the ground. He conquered rapidly 
Syria, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Pyre, Gaza, Egypt, Baby- 
lonia, Persia. In 329 he conquered Bactria, crossed 
the Oxus and Jaxaitis and defeated the Scythians. 
And thus he stamped upon the ram after having 
broken its horns. But when the he-goat had waxed 
very great, the great horn was broken. This pre- 
dicted the early and sudden death of Alexander the 
Great. He died after a reign of 12 years and eight 
months, after a career of drunkenness and de- 
bauchery in 323 B. C. He died when he was but 
32 years old. Then four notable ones sprung up in 
the place of the broken horn. This too has been 
fulfilled, for the empire of Alexander was divided 
into four parts. Four of the great generals of 
Alexander made the division namely, Cassander, 
Lysimachus, Seleucus and Ptolemy. The four 
great divisions were, Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, and 
Asia Minor. 

The Little Horn. Out of one of these divisions 
Daniel beheld a little horn coming up. It sprung 
out of Syria. This little horn which now comes 
into prominence pressed down upon " the pleasant 
land," which is Palestine and its fearful action there 
and in Jerusalem are described. Let us see what 
it says. 

And out of one of them came forth a little horn, 
which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and 
toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 97 

it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast 
down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, 
and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself 
even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily 
sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary 
was cast down. And an host was given him against the 
daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast 
down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and 
prospered (verses 9-12). 

History does not leave us in doubt about the 
identity of this wicked king. He is the eighth king 
of the Seleucid dynasty, who took the Syrian throne 
and is known by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes 
and bore also the name of Epimanes, i. e., " the Mad- 
man." He was the tyrant and oppressor of the 
Jews. His wicked deeds of oppression, blasphemy 
and sacrilege are fully described in the book of the 
Maccabees. Long before he ever appeared Daniel 
saw him and his wicked work in his vision. The 
host of heaven towards whom this little horn waxed 
great and the stars which he cast to the ground and 
stamped upon them, are symbols of the people 
Israel and those who held positions of authority 
and responsibility among the Jews such as the 
princes, the priests, and rabbis. 

But he was to do more than that. His action 
against the sanctuary of the Lord is also propheti- 
cally pictured. A mistranslation must here be cor- 
rected. He magnified himself to, or rather against 
the prince of the host that of course is the Lord, 
but not "by him," that is Antiochus, the daily 
sacrifice was taken away, but " from him," that is 
from the prince of the host, the daily sacrifice was 



98 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

taken away and the place of his sanctuary was cast 
down. And it, the little horn, cast down the truth 
to the ground; and it practised and prospered. 

And all this has been fulfilled in Antiochus 
Epiphanes. When he had conquered Jerusalem 
he sacrificed a sow upon the altar of burnt offer- 
ings and sprinkled its broth over the entire build- 
ing. He corrupted the youths of Jerusalem by 
introducing lewd practices ; the feast of tabernacles 
he changed into the feast of Bacchus. He auc- 
tioned off the highpriesthood. All kinds of infamies 
were perpetrated by him and the most awful ob- 
scenity permitted and encouraged. All true wor- 
ship was forbidden and idol worship introduced 
especially that of Jupiter Olympus. The whole 
city and land was devastated and some 100,000 
pious Jews massacred. Such has been the remark- 
able fulfillment of this prophecy. In chapter xi 
his doings are once more revealed. 

An Angelic Conversation 

Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint 
said unto that certain saint which spake, How long 
shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and 
the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanc- 
tuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he 
said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred 
days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (verses 
13-14). 

The word " Saint " means " a Holy One." We 
have here an angelic conversation. The certain 
Holy One or angel is called " Palmoni " which 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 99 

means " the wonderful numberer."* We are given 
another glimpse of the occupation of angels. The 
book of Daniel tells us much of these great and 
wonderful beings and their service. In the fourth 
chapter we found them to be the holy watchers, 
the sleepless sentinels of heaven, as one has called 
them, who take a deep interest in all the affairs of 
the earth. Here we hear them conversing about 
the awful horrors committed by the little horn. 
The rationalistic critics have charged the writer 
of the book of Daniel of having derived his belief 
in angels from Zoroastrianism. Such an assertion 
is too weak for any refutation. Daniel overhears 
their conversation, 2300 days (lit: evenings morn- 
ings) shall the affliction last and then shall the 
sanctuary be cleansed. These 2300 days cover about 
the period of time during which Antiochus Epiph- 
anes did his wicked deeds. The chronology of 
these 2300 days is interesting. Judas Maccabaeus 
cleansed (lit. justified) the sanctuary from the 
abomination about December 25th, 165 B. C. An- 
tiochus died a miserable death two years later. 
Going back 2300 days from the time Judas the 
Maccabee cleansed the defiled temple brings us to 
171 B. C. when we find the record of Antiochus* 

* For several years a set of books has been advertised in 
England written by a Captain Crossley. They are called " a 
great revelation " and reference is made to the passage before 
us, as if he had discovered the secret of numbering. These 
books are confusion worse confounded. Much of it instead 
of being revelation is hallucination of the worst kind. Be- 
ware of such foolish attempts to solve divine mysteries. 



ioo THE PROPHET DANIEL 

interference with the Jews. Menelaus had bribed 
Antiochus to make him highpriest, robbed the tem- 
ple and instituted the murder of the highpriest 
Onias III. The most wicked deeds in the defilement 
of the temple were perpetrated by the leading gen- 
eral of Antiochus, Apollonius, in the year 168 B. C. 
We believe these 2300 days are therefore literal 
days and have found their literal fulfillment in the 
dreadful days of this wicked king from the North. 
There is no other meaning attached to these days 
and the foolish speculations that these days are 
years, etc., lacks scriptural foundation altogether. 
Such views and fanciful interpretations bring the 
study of Prophecy in disrepute. We have special 
reference to the Seventh Day Adventist delusion. 
They teach the abominable untruth that the Lord 
Jesus Christ did not enter into the Holiest till the 
year 1844 had been reached, because this is accord- 
ing to their reckoning 2300 years after Cyrus had 
issued the command to build the temple. That 
this is a denial of the Gospel itself and satanic is 
self evident. 

The Two Horns not Identical. Before we follow 
the divinely given interpretation, given in answer 
to Daniel's request, we call attention once more 
to the fact that the two little horns in chapters vii 
and viii are not identical. Even some good exposi- 
tors and Bible teachers have made the mistake in 
teaching that they are one and the same person. 
How can they be? The little horn in chapter vii 
springs from the Roman Empire when it is in 
existence in its final form. As we have seen this 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 101 

horn represents the great head of the revived 
Roman Empire, who will assume the role of an 
emperor over the nation and who will work in 
conjunction with the personal Antichrist, the false 
king and false Messiah. The little horn in chapter 
viii springs not from the western empire at all, but 
from a division of the eastern, the Grecian Empire. 
The little horn in chapter vii is the political leader 
of the nations and hater of the Jews, but the little 
horn in chapter viii comes exclusively from the 
North against the pleasant land. His chief work is 
the invasion of Israel's land as oppressor of the 
Jews. Whom the little horn represents in our 
chapter we shall now learn from the interpretation. 

The Interpretation Sent Through Gabriel 

And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen 
the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, 
there stood before me one as the appearance of a man. 
And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, 
which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to under- 
stand the vision. So he came near where I stood; and 
when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face ; but 
he said unto me, Understand, O son of man; for at 
the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he 
was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face 
toward the ground ; but he touched me, and set me up- 
right. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know 
what shall be in the last end of the indignation : for at 
the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which 
thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media 
and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; 
and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first 
king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up 
for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, 



102 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

but not in his power. And in the latter time of their 
kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, 
a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark 
sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be 
mighty, but not by his own power : and he shall destroy 
wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall 
destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through 
his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his 
hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and 
by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up 
against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken 
without hand. And the vision of the evening and the 
morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou 
up the vision; for it shall be for many days. And 
I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward 
I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was 
astonished at the vision, but none understood it (verses 
15-27). 

Gabriel is seen here for the first time in this 
Book. He appeared in the form of a man and a 
man's voice commands Gabriel to " make this man 
to understand the vision. " We pass over the in- 
terpretation of the vision of the ram and he-goat, 
which has been already given and devote our atten- 
tion to the five last verses of this chapter. 

Gabriel told Daniel that the vision has a special 
meaning for the time of the end. Four different 
expressions are used to denote the time of the 
final fulfillment of the vision. (1) "The time of 
the end " viii, 17. (2) " The last end of the indig- 
nation " viii, 19. (3) "The latter time of their 
kingdom " viii, 23. (4) " When the transgressors 
are come to the full." Verse 23. 

From these terms we learn then definitely that 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 103 

when the period of time comes, elsewhere called 
" the great tribulation," the time of the end, the 
last end of the indignation, a king of fierce counten- 
ance will stand up once more and do the wicked 
deeds mentioned here and he shall be broken with- 
out hand. 

First of all we desire to emphasize that all that 
is written here concerns the Jewish people and their 
land. To read the church into all this, as it is so 
often done, produces confusion. The church was not 
revealed to Daniel. Nor did he behold in these vi- 
sions the present Christian age nor does he know 
anything of the great purpose, which God carries 
out since the rejection of the Messiah by His own 
people. All this is unrevealed in this book. 

Daniel beheld first in his great visions in the sev- 
enth chapter the political history of the times of the 
Gentiles, how they will end in judgment, followed 
by the establishment of the Kingdom of the Son of 
Man on this earth. Then in our present chapter, 
after the history of the Persian and Grecian em- 
pires and their fate were historically predicted, the 
great hater and persecutor of the Jews, Antiochus 
Epiphanes is announced. He came, as already 
stated, several hundred years later and acted his 
part. After this we are carried at once to the last 
stage of the history of the Jewish people, a time, 
which it is hardly necessary to say, has not yet been 
reached. 

Significant are two phrases used to describe that 
time. 

The Last End of the Indignation. The first is 



104 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

contained in verse 19. " Behold I will make thee 
know what shall be in the last end of the indigna- 
tion; for at the time appointed the end shall be." 
The last sentence is better rendered by " it belongeth 
to the appointed time of the end." The indignation, 
which is here mentioned in its final form, is repeat- 
edly spoken of in the Old Testament. It will help 
us much if we consider some of the passages in 
which this indignation is predicted. It is God's 
indignation against His earthly people and their 
land on account of their disobedience and apostasy. 
We turn first to the tenth chapter in the Book of 
Isaiah. The great Assyrian invasion under Senna- 
cherib is the subject of this chapter. The Assyrian 
enemy was permitted to come into the land 
because His people had sinned and departed 
from God. In the 5th verse this Assyrian 
is addressed. " O Assyrian, the rod of mine 
anger, and the staff in whose hand is mine indig- 
nation. I will send him against an hypocritical 
nation, and against the people of my wrath will I 
give him a charge, to take the spoil and take the 
prey and to tread them down like the mire of the 
street." God used the Assyrian as an instrument 
to carry out His indignation. Then elsewhere in 
the same chapter the promise is given to the faith- 
ful people in Israel who were terrified by that 
invasion " for yet a very little while and the in- 
dignation shall cease, and mine anger in their de- 
struction " (verse 25). We shall ask the attention 
of the reader to this passage again in the course 
of the exposition. In chapter xiii, 5 invading forces 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 105 

are again called "the weapons of His indignation 
to destroy the whole land." 

In Isaiah xxvi, 20 there is a significant exhorta- 
tion. Isaiah xxiv-xxvii have rightly been called 
" Isaiah's little Apocalypse." These chapters pre- 
dict the great judgments and upheavals of the day 
of Jehovah. The pious in Israel are addressed in 
the above passage " Come, my people, enter thou 
into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee ; 
hide thyself as if it were for a little moment, until 
the indignation be overpast." According to this 
there is to be an indignation to come for that land. 
The indignation is also mentioned in Isaiah xxx, 
30-31 ; here too in connection with the Assyrian. 
The judgment which came upon Israel through 
Babylon is termed " the indignation " (Jeremiah 
1, 25). And in Zechariah i, 12 we hear the inter- 
ceding angel of Jehovah using the same word about 
the Babylonian captivity. " O Lord of hosts, how 
long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and 
the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had 
indignation, these three score and ten years." God 
announces indignation upon His people through 
Ezekiel likewise. " And I will pour out mine in- 
dignation upon thee" (Ezek. xxi, 31). 

We find it used in the lxix Psalm. This 
Psalm is a messianic Psalm and we read in the first 
part of it the sufferings of Christ. The nation re- 
jected Him whom God sent in their midst and He 
had to say " I looked for some to take pity, but 
there was none; and for comforters, but I found 
none." Then follows an announcement of the 



106 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

judgment which was to come upon the nation. 
" Let their table become a snare before them and 
a trap. Let their eyes be darkened that they see 
not; and make their loins continually to shake." 
Romans xi. quotes these words in teaching the 
setting aside of the nation and the judgment which 
rests upon them during the present age. Then fol- 
lows this word in the Sixty-ninth Psalm, " Pour out 
thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful 
anger take hold of them" (verse 24). After they 
rejected Christ indignation was to be poured out 
upon them. Even so it has been. They have been 
scattered over the face of the earth; their history 
has been one of sorrow and tears. The Jewish 
people are in the days of the indignation on account 
of their disobedience. But this indignation will 
end. There will be according to our chapter " the 
last end of the indignation." And that last end will 
bring great calamities upon the people and the land 
and one person, the king of fierce countenance, will 
be the chief actor in it. Who he is we shall dis- 
cover later. 

When the Transgressors are Come to the Full. 
"When the transgressors are come to the full " 
(verse 23) is another significant term used to de- 
note the time when this prophecy is to be fulfilled. 
It has been applied to the time when there is uni- 
versal apostasy in the earth. That the Scriptures 
predict the complete apostasy for the end of the 
age is very true. However this is not in view here. 
The transgressors are the apostates among the 
Jewish people. This people, according to the 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 107 

prophetic Word, are getting further away from God 
and their transgressions become full. Their latter 
end will be worse than their former state. The 
Lord predicted this. (Matthew xii. 43-45.) He 
also said " I am come in my Father's name, and ye 
receive Me not ; if another shall come in His name, 
him ye will receive." (John v. 43.) A false Christ, 
the false King will appear some day in their midst 
and the great mass of the people will receive the 
devil's counterfeit. When this great end apostasy 
of the Jewish people is reached, when they are 
once more back in their land by their own schem- 
ing, their money and political influence, then the 
time before us will have come. That the Jewish 
people are approaching such a time " when the 
transgressors are come to the full " is very evident 
at this time. The great majority are casting the 
faith of their fathers to the winds and in arrogant 
pride they lift themselves up. What other evils 
are found among them needs not to be mentioned 
here. 

Who is the King with the Fierce Countenance? 
And now we must look at the personality of this 
king as described in verses 23-25. He is to arise 
out of their kingdom, that is the kingdoms into 
which the Grecian empire divided and the deeds of 
this king with the fierce countenance are described. 
The last act reported of him is, that he shall stand 
up against the Prince of princes and when he has 
reached this climax in his career, then " he shall 
be broken without hands." 

This King is not identical with the Antichrist as 



io8 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

it is so often taught, nor can Antiochus Epiphanes 
be meant, for this King with the fierce countenance 
is to appear during " the last end of the indigna- 
tion." Antiochus is the type in some measure of 
this coming King, the destroyer of the people. 
Those who identify this King with the fierce 
countenance with the Antichrist lay much stress 
on the fact that Antiochus defiled the temple and 
that Antichrist will do this very thing. But they 
overlook the fact that while Antiochus defiled the 
temple as predicted in the verses 9-12, no such state- 
ment is made concerning the King who is de- 
scribed in verses 23-25. 

The King who is to appear as the great oppres- 
sor of the Jewish people is the same person, who is 
designated in other parts of the prophetic Word 
as "the Assyrian" the King of the North. We 
find this wicked persecutor and his work described 
in the books of Isaiah, Micah, Joel and in the 
Psalms. God used the Assyrian invader in the past 
to punish His disobedient people. But another 
Assyrian is to appear in " the time of the end " and 
do the pernicious work of destroying the people, tak- 
ing Jerusalem and practice all the vile things written 
of him. He will come like a whirlwind from his 
northern dominion into Israel's land, just as Antio- 
chus Epiphanes entered the pleasant land. This 
invasion will take place after the Jewish people 
have gained once more a foothold in their land and 
the hopes of present day Zionism have been real- 
ized. Their restoration and reoccupation of the 
land will be effected by the power of the little horn 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 109 

of Daniel vii. That coming prince will make a 
covenant with them, as we shall learn from the 
ninth chapter of Daniel, and the restored Jews will 
trust themselves in his hands for protection. 
When this is accomplished then this King with the 
fierce countenance, the Assyrian, King of the North, 
makes his appearance and rushes against the people 
and their cities. He is the enemy of the Head of 
the restored Roman Empire and as the hater of 
Judah, he persecutes the nation, while the beast, the 
little horn of Daniel vii. persecutes the Saints. The 
head of the revived Roman Empire and the Anti- 
christ (the first and the second beast of Rev. xiii.) 
are in league together, but the Assyrian, this King 
pictured in the closing verses of Daniel viii., opposes 
their plans. We may gain further light by briefly 
pointing to a few other prophecies which speak of 
this same person and his destructive work as well as 
his end. 

The Assyrian in Isaiah. In the prophet Isaiah 
we read much about the Assyrian the enemy whom 
Isaiah predicted was to come into the land in the 
immediate future, and who is there likewise de- 
scribed as the great foe of the Jews in the last days. 
He is announced in chapter viii. 7-8. 

Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon 
them the waters of the river, strong and many, even 
the king of Assyria, and all his glory; and he shall 
come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks. 
And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow 
and go over; he shall reach even to the neck; and the 
stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy 
land, O Immanuel. 



no THE PROPHET DANIEL 

This is one of the first predictions that this 
powerful enemy was to come into Immanuel's land, 
but a great deal more is said of him in Isaiah x. 5-34. 
We would suggest to the reader a very close read- 
ing and prayerful study of this very interesting 
chapter. That this prophecy goes beyond the days 
of Isaiah and predicts more than the coming of 
Sennacherib against Jerusalem is easily discovered. 
Notice especially what has been mentioned before, 
the statement made that the indignation is to cease, 
when this Assyrian lifts up his staff against His 
people after the manner of Egypt (verses 24-25). 
Now the indignation is God's displeasure with His 
earthly people. His judgment which rests upon 
them. Up to now the indignation has not yet ceased 
and there is yet to be, as we learned from verse 19 
in Daniel viii., " the last end of the indignation." 
That end of the indignation will mean the deliver- 
ance of the Jews and complete overthrow of the 
last Assyrian. This is even more clearly taught 
in verse 12 of Isaiah x. 

Wherefore, it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord 
hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and 
on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart 
of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. 

The whole work which the Lord performs is His 
punitive work upon Jerusalem. When that is com- 
pleted, the King of Assyria will be punished. But 
that necessitates that such a powerful enemy like 
the Assyrian must trouble the Jews then. This 
portion in the Prophet Isaiah begins with a state- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL III 

ment which defines the purpose of the invasion of 
the Assyrian, both the first Assyrian and the final 
one at the time of the end. 

O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in 
whose hand is mine indignation. I will send him 
against an hypocritical nation, and against the people 
of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, 
and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the 
mire of the streets (verses 5-6). 

God uses him to execute His indignation against 
His people. He comes into Israel's land as the 
great external enemy because the greater part of the 
nation follow the beast. But God also deals with 
him in judgment because he lifts himself up. All 
this is seen in the tenth chapter of Isaiah. Notice 
the six divisions of Isaiah x. 5-34. 

1. A description of the Assyrian. He is the in- 
strument which God uses to punish Israel. God 
sends him against a hypocritical nation. Verses 
5-11. 

2. The punishment of the Assyrian is announced. 
That time will be when the Lord has performed 
His whole work upon Jerusalem. It is therefore 
future. Verses 12-15. 

3. The punishment itself. It shall be suddenly 
and complete. Verses 16-19. 

4. The return of the remnant of Israel is prom- 
ised. Verses 20-23. 

5. The Word of Comfort to the troubled rem- 
nant. Verses 24-27. 

6. A vivid description of the advance of the Assy- 



ii2 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

rian against Jerusalem and the intervention from 
above. Verses 28-34. 

The great final fulfillment of all this will come, 
when the King with the fierce countenance appears 
and devastates the land and stands up against the 
Prince of princes, the Lord Jesus Christ. The reader 
will also notice that Isaiah xi. has much to say of the 
coming King, our Lord, and His Kingdom, which 
comes immediately after the power of the Assyrian 
has been broken. 

Isaiah xiv. speaks first of the King of Babylon 
and the judgment which will fall upon him and 
upon " the golden city " (verse 4). 

The King of Babylon is prophetically the last 
great king, who holds the power over the Roman 
Empire (that is the little horn of Daniel vii.). But 
in the same chapter the Assyrian of the end is like- 
wise mentioned. 

The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely 
as I have thought so shall it come to pass; and as I 
have purposed, so shall it stand. That I will break the 
Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread 
him under foot; then shall his yoke depart from off 
them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders 
(verses 24-25). 

It is significant that in this chapter Babylon with 
its King and judgment meted out to him stands 
first and the Assyrian is mentioned after Babylon. 
This is the prophetic order. Historically the Assy- 
rian came first and Babylon second. When the age 
closes and the time comes revealed to Daniel by 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 113 

Gabriel's interpretation, the Roman Empire will rise 
first with its King and the Assyrian comes after. 
In chapter xxx, the miserable end of the Assyrian 
is revealed, corresponding to what is said in Daniel 
of his sudden judgment. 

For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian 
be beaten down, which smote with a rod. And in 
every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which 
the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets 
and harps; and in battles of shaking will he fight with 
it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king 
also it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; 
the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of 
the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it 
(Is. xxx; 31-33). 

Tophet is the name for the place of punishment, 
the lake of fire. The Assyrian will be cast in there, 
where he will find his two enemies, the Emperor 
of the Roman Empire, called the beast, and the Anti- 
christ. The true rendering is " for the King also " 
showing that not alone is the Assyrian cast there 
but also the false King. 

Micah v., 1-7. A careful study of the first seven 
verses of the v chapter of Micah reveals the same 
personage. 

Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops : 
he hath laid siege against us : they shall smite the judge 
of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Beth- 
lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thou- 
sands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto 
me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth 
have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore 
will he give them up, until the time that she which 
travaileth hath brought forth ; then the remnant of his 



ii 4 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And 
he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, 
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and 
they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the 
ends of the earth. And this man shall be the peace, 
when the Assyrian shall come into our land : and when 
he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against 
him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. And 
they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, 
and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof : thus 
shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh 
into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 
And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many 
people as dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the 
grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the 
sons of men" 

The second verse predicts the birth of our Lord. 
The third verse reveals the fact that His own to 
whom He came and who received Him not, were 
to be given up. Even so it has come to pass. But 
the giving up of the nation is not to be forever: it 
is " until " the travailing time i. e., when the nation 
passes through the birth pangs during the great 
tribulation, when the remnant of His people will 
be born and the national deliverance achieved. The 
fourth verse shows the Lord Jesus Christ through 
whom at His second coming the national restoration 
and blessing will be brought about. In the verses 
which follow we hear that the Assyrian will then be 
in the land and the Lord will be their peace in that 
day ; " thus shall He deliver us from the Assyrian 
when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth 
within our borders." This is future. It is the same 
invader and desolator revealed to Daniel. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 115 

Joel's Prophecy. The second chapter in Joel 
gives a vivid description of the invasion of a great 
army, which comes from the North, called "the 
Northern army." The desolation which this northern 
army works is compared to the devastation of 
locusts. The nation is called to repentance on ac- 
count of this final indignation and they call upon 
Jehovah, who appears and overthrows the invading 
forces and delivers His land and His people. The 
blessings, including a great outpouring of His Spirit, 
which follow these events are described in the clos- 
ing verses of this chapter. The northern army is 
the Assyrian. We refer the reader to our exposi- 
tion of the book of Joel.* 

Some Prophetic Psalms. In the Psalms likewise 
this Assyrian enemy of the end time and his dread- 
ful work is mentioned. Zechariah contains a de- 
scription of the last siege of Jerusalem and how the 
Lord comes and fights against the Assyrian (chapter 
xiv.). In the Psalms we have some details of the 
desolations which the Assyrian works when he is 
in the land and is conquering Jerusalem. 

In Psalm lxxiv. we find such a prophetic de- 
scription of what is yet to be. It is the outpouring 
of the heart of the pious Jews in that day, those 
who do not side with the two beasts. 

O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth 
thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? 
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased 

♦The Prophet Joel. An exposition. Seventy-five cents 
postpaid. Publ. office "Our Hope," 80 Second Street, New 
York City. 



n6 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast 
redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. 
Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations, even all 
that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; 
they set up their ensigns for signs. A man was famous 
according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. 
But now they break down the carved work thereof at 
once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into 
thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the 
dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said 
in their hearts let us destroy them together: they have 
burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. 
We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: 
neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. 
O God how long shall the adversary reproach? shall 
the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? (Psalm 
lxxiv: i-io). 

Still greater is the sad complaint in Psalm lxxix. 
which also describes that enemy in the midst of 
the city. 

O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; 
thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid 
Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants 
have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the 
heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the 
earth. Their blood have they shed like water round 
about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them. 
We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn 
and derision to them that are round about us. How 
long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy 
jealousy burn like fire? 

These are Asaph's Psalms and Asaph the holy 
singer in Israel is a prophetic type of the pious 
remnant of the Jews during the time of the end. 



[THE PROPHET DANIEL 117 

Without quoting other Scriptures we have had 
sufficient evidence that in the period of time speci- 
fied in Daniel's prophecies as " the time of the end " ; 
" the last end of the indignation," that is the few- 
years which precede the visible and glorious ap- 
pearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, a powerful enemy 
will invade Israel's land. He will come against the 
people who have gathered back to the country. He 
comes from the North as Antiochus Epiphanes 
came from the North. In chapter xi. he goes by the 
name of the King of the North. He is identical with 
the Assyrian in Isaiah and Micah. 

The personal Antichrist and the northern invader, 
that other Antiochus Epiphanes, are therefore not 
the same being. The personal Antichrist, the man 
of sin, will be a Jew. He takes his seat in the temple 
when the first beast breaks his covenant with the 
Jews; he works lying miracles. He is the false 
Messiah, claiming to be the King over the Jewish 
people, a very incarnation of Satan. He demands 
divine worship. But the one described in Daniel 
viii. 23-26 is an external foe. 

And who will he be? From where will he rise? 
One must guard against making predictions in ex- 
pounding prophecy. Many have erred in this re- 
spect and have done harm by predicting certain 
persons as being Antichrist or this King from the 
North. The prophecy in the chapter before us 
makes it plain that this desolator will arise from 
one of the divisions of the Grecian empire. That 
territory is held now by Turkey. When the time 
of the end comes the greatest upheavals will take 



118 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

place both in Asia Minor and in the surrounding 
countries. What changes will then take place, 
whether a great Russian Czar or some other one 
will accomplish the great eastern confederacy re- 
mains as a secret with God. But it seems clear 
that the King with the fierce countenance will act 
under the instructions of a superior for we read 
" his power shall be mighty, but not by his own 
power/' As we shall find more of him in Daniel's 
final prophecy we leave this chapter with this. 



CHAPTER IX 
The Great Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks 

The previous chapter closed with the effect of 
the vision and its interpretation upon the holy seer. 
He famished and became sick. Great astonishment 
filled his soul and none understood it. This should 
dispel the idea, which some people seem to have, as 
if the prophets were simply in a passive state and 
the visions they had and prophecies they received 
came to them in a mechanical way. The prophets 
were holy men of God and they were moved by 
the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. i. 21). It is true they did not 
completely understand their visions; they had to 
search themselves and much was mysterious and 
hidden to them, yet they believed (1 Pet. i. 10-12). 
Daniel shows how deeply moved he was after these 
visions. We read of him how each vision was con- 
nected with the deepest soul exercise, with fasting 
and prayer as well as the reading of those portions 
of the Word of God he possessed. Especially in 
the present chapter do we find that the greatest 
revelation he received was an answer to prayer. 

And here we may well think of the same neces- 
sity for us. We too cannot advance in the knowl- 

119 



120 THE PROPHET. DANIEL 

edge of the revelation of God unless it is through 
prayer and soul exercise. The lessons are many 
and precious which we gather especially from the 
great prayer the man greatly beloved uttered and 
the still greater spiritual experience which followed 
the divine, heaven-sent answer (chapter x.). 

The Time of Daniel's Prayer. Before we examine 
the occasion of the prayer of Daniel and the prayer 
itself we consider the time when the Prophet prayed. 

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of 
the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the 
realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign 
I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, 
whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the 
prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the 
desolations of Jerusalem. 

From this we learn that this chapter takes 
us into the first year of the reign of Darius, 
the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes. 
Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus is still un- 
known by name to history and to the monuments, 
but that in itself is no argument against the book 
of Daniel. Belshazzar's name was likewise unknown 
to history and to the ancient monuments, till the 
discovered memorials of Nabonnaid confirmed so 
fully the correctness of Daniel's writings. But the 
poor critics have not yet learned their lessons and 
they will continue to doubt the Word of God, till 
some day to their eternal loss they will find out the 
complete defeat as well as wickedness of their de- 
structive work. Another objection has been made 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 121 

that the names " Darius, son of Ahasuerus " are not 
Median, but Persian. But this objection likewise 
falls to the ground, for the language of the Persians 
was almost identical with that of the Medes. 

What led Daniel to Pray. It was a critical time 
for Daniel's people, when Darius the Mede began 
his reign. Babylon which had been the instrument 
of the captivity had fallen and the 70 years, which 
God had announced should be the duration of the 
punishment, had almost expired. We see Daniel 
occupied with the reading of the Word of God. 
Besides the Pentateuch and other historical books, 
he possessed most of the Psalms and the former 
Prophets, the books of Isaiah, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, 
Amos, Jeremiah, and others. In these oracles of 
God he read of a better day, which was to come 
for his beloved people and that God had promised 
them great mercies and a glorious future. Being a 
prophet himself he understood the promises of bless- 
ing. We see him especially occupied with the 
prophet Jeremiah. " I Daniel, understood by books* 
the number of the years, where of the Word of the 
Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would 
accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Je- 
rusalem." What presumption it is when the puny 
critics of the present day deny that the Word of the 
Lord came to Jeremiah and the other prophets, 
when so great a man as Daniel knew that the Word 
of the Lord did come to them as well as to himself. 
It was by turning to the Word that he became so 
deeply interested. Though he was a prophet, highly 
* Hebrew "Hassephorim, "The Books." 



122 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

favored of the Lord, he felt the need of perusing 
what other prophets before him had said. And 
God's own Word led him close to God and revealed 
to him God's thoughts and God's purposes. He did 
not need a special communication concerning the 
duration and termination of the Babylonian cap- 
tivity. God had given a revelation already on this 
question as well as on the mercy in store for Jeru- 
salem. The Prophet therefore did not turn to the 
Lord for a new revelation, but he read His revelation 
as given in the Books. This is an important prin- 
ciple. There have been and there are misguided 
people who believe that God gives still revelations 
and that they receive them. But God has given to 
us a complete revelation concerning Himself, our- 
selves, and the future, the things to come and He 
expects us now to study that completed revelation 
and to believe it. From His Word we learn His 
purposes and living, as we do, in a critical time, 
when God will soon fulfill His promises and carry 
out His purposes how diligent we ought to be to 
read and understand. 

Daniel after reading in the books and in Jeremiah 
about God's gracious promises to Jerusalem (see 
Jeremiah xxiv. 5-10) drew near to God. He might 
have announced his discovery to the people, but he 
turned to the Lord in prayer. He knew Babylon 
had been conquered and that Cyrus the Persian 
was the King who was to give the command that 
Jerusalem should be built (Isaiah xliv. 28 to xlv. 
4) and the next was that, prophet like, he sought the 
face of God to intercede for His people, whom he 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 123 

so deeply loved. True prayer must have for its 
foundation the Word of God. 

The Prayer. It is one of the greatest prayers of 
the Bible, which Daniel prayed. In reading it one 
feels still its great warmth, and its earnest plead- 
ings, deep humility, confession of sin and failure 
touch every spiritually minded believer. We think 
it well to quote the entire prayer. 

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by- 
prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, 
and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and 
made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and 
dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them 
that love him, and to them that keep his command- 
ments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, 
and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by 
departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 
neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the 
prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our~ 
princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the 
land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but 
unto us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men 
of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto 
all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through 
all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because 
of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. 
O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, 
to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have 
sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong 
mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled 
against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the 
Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before 
us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have 
transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they 
might not obey thy voice ; therefore the curse is poured 
upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of 



I2 4 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned 
against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which 
he spake against us, and against our judges that judged 
us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the 
whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done 
upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, 
all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our 
prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn 
from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. There- 
fore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought 
it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all 
his works which he doeth : for we obeyed not his voice. 
And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy 
people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty 
hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we 
have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, accord- 
ing to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine 
anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city 
Jerusalem, thy holy mountain : because of our sins, 
and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and 
thy people are become a reproach to all that are about 
us. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of they 
servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to 
shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's 
sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open 
thine eyes and behold our desolations, and the city 
which is called by thy name: for we do not present 
our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, 
but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, 
forgive; O Lord, harken and do: defer not, for thine 
own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are 
called by thy name (verses 5-19). 

In deepest humiliation the great man of God ap- 
proached the Lord his God. The first thing we 
read is that he made his confession. " I prayed unto 
the Lord my God, and made my confession." 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 125 

Throughout this prayer we read how completely he 
identified himself with the sins, the failure, the 
shame and the judgment of the people of God. 
This is remarkable. As we have seen from the first 
chapter, he was brought to Babylon when quite 
young and belonged even then to the believing God 
fearing element of the nation. Yet he speaks of the 
nation's sins, their rebellion, their transgressions of 
the law and their wicked deeds as if they belonged 
to him. Of all the Bible characters Daniel appears 
as the purest. The failures of Abraham, Moses, 
Aaron, David and others are recorded but Daniel 
appears with no flaw whatever in his character. 
As far as the record goes he was a perfect man. Of 
course he too was " a man of like passions " as we 
are and as such a sinner. Yet this devoted and 
aged servant with such a record of loyalty to God 
and to His laws confesses all the people's sins and 
the curse and shame, which came upon them as 
His own. We have sinned — we hearkened not unto 
thy servants — -we have rebelled against thee; — 
neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our 
God; — we have sinned and done wickedly; these 
are some of the expressions he uses in his prayer 
of confession. The confusion of face, the shame 
and reproach, the curse and the anger he also takes 
upon himself. Well may we see in him a type of 
the Lord Jesus Christ who took the sins of His 
people upon himself and confessed them as His own. 
Daniel loving his people and knowing the cause 
of all the confusion of face, the reproach and anger 
resting upon them, takes his place with them in all 



126 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

they had done and all which came upon them. Their 
sin is his sin, their failure his failure, their confusion 
of face and reproach, he makes his own. Instead 
of exempting himself from any blame of what the 
nation did and what came upon them as a result of 
their apostasy, he takes his place right with them. 
Such a spirit pleases God. From all this we may 
profit likewise. Instead of boasting, as it is so often 
heard, among believing Christians, " that we are the 
people " or little narrow circles of fellowship, claim- 
ing to be " the church of God on earth " in which 
no failure is found, we too like Daniel should con- 
fess the failure in which we all have a share and 
part and in deep humiliation seek the face of God, 
confessing our sins. This is the way to blessing. 
Daniel pleads for the nation, for Jerusalem, the 
sanctuary, for the desolate city called by the name 
of the Lord. He reminds Him that they are His 
people, His city, His sanctuary and appeals to 
Jehovah that His anger and fury be turned away, 
to cause his face to shine on His sanctuar)', to in- 
cline His ears, to open His eyes, to forgive and not 
delay. It is a great prayer of confession and inter- 
cession. As our chief purpose in this book is to 
explain the prophetic visions and revelations, we do 
not enter into greater detail, but point out briefly 
the scope of the prayer. 

It may be divided into three parts. (1) Verses 
4-10. Confession of the failures of the nation and 
acknowledgment of God's covenant mercies. (2) 
Verses 11-14. The deserved curse as written in the 
law; of Moses. (3) Verses 15-19. Pleadings for 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 127 

mercy to turn away His anger and to remember 
His city Jerusalem and His people. 

The Interrupted Prayer. Daniel was not per- 
mitted to finish his prayer. When he poured out 
his heart and said " defer not for thine own sake, 
O my God: for thy city and thy people are called 
by thy name " he was suddenly interrupted. Before 
him stood once more the heavenly messenger, the 
man Gabriel. But we shall first of all read Daniel's 
own words on what took place. 

And while I was speaking, and praying, and confess- 
ing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and 
presenting my supplication before the Lord my God 
for the holy mountain of my God; yea, while I was 
speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I 
had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused 
to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening 
oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, 
and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee 
skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy sup- 
plications the commandment came forth, and I am 
come to shew thee ; for thou art greatly beloved : there- 
fore understand the matter, and consider the vision 
(verses 20-23). 

Twice Daniel tells us that whilst he was speak- 
ing in prayer he was interrupted by the same one, 
whom he had seen in the previous vision and that 
he touched him. The prayer was cut short for 
Gabriel had come to bring him the answer. The 
man Gabriel appeared at the time of the evening 
oblation, that is at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But 
was there a time of the evening oblation in Babylon? 



128 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Certainly not. The temple had been consumed by- 
fire almost 70 years before and the Jews then as 
now in their greater dispersion, had no altar and no 
sacrifices left. It is one of the evidences of faith 
in Daniel. Though there was no temple and no 
evening oblation, yet he remembered the time and 
the memories of the past filled his soul. The mes- 
senger had been caused by God's own power to fly 
swiftly. He informs Daniel that he had come to 
give him skill and understanding. He addresses 
him as " greatly beloved " and tells Daniel that 
when he began his supplications with deep humilia- 
tion and confession, he, Gabriel, received the com- 
mand to fly swiftly and bring Daniel the answer to 
his prayer. 

How Near Heaven is. How far is heaven from 
earth? How long does a message take from God's 
dwelling place in the third heaven to reach this 
earth? Astronomy tells us of the immeasurable 
depths of the universe with its mighty and innumer- 
able bodies called stars and its wonders. But be- 
yond the most distant constellation there is the 
Heaven of the heavens, there is the throne of God 
and all His Glory. And yet heaven is not far away. 
It took the man Gabriel just a few minutes, being 
caused to fly swiftly, to reach Daniel and acquaint 
him with the secrets of God. As long as it takes 
to utter the words Daniel prayed, so long it took 
Gabriel to reach the intercessor's side. This is an 
inconceivable speed. But why should it be thought 
impossible with God? Puny man on earth, which 
as a globe in the mighty universe is in size the 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 129 

least of all these great bodies, like a small grain of 
sand on the shore of the ocean, and yet man has 
discovered to cast his thoughts through space in an 
invisible way. Heaven is not far away. There is no 
space and distance for God. What an encourage- 
ment to prayer this ought to be to God's people. 
The moment we pray in the Spirit and in His name 
our voices are heard in the highest heaven. 

The Answer. A Great Prophecy. The message 
Gabriel brought to Daniel contains more than an 
answer to his prayer. It was an answer to his re- 
quests concerning the people, the holy city and the 
sanctuary, but at the same time it is a great apoca- 
lypsis of the entire future of Israel from the end of 
the Babylonian captivity to the time of the end, 
when the Roman Prince shall make a covenant 
with many of the Jews, when the desolator shall 
invade the land and when the final great and 
glorious deliverance of Daniel's people shall come. 

The prophetic message Gabriel brought from the 
throne of God to Daniel is perhaps the most im- 
portant not only in the Book of Daniel, but in the 
whole Bible. The clear understanding of it is in- 
dispensable to every reader of God's Word, who 
wants to know God's purposes concerning the fu- 
ture. In the few verses which contain the words of 
Gabriel, events relating to Jewish future history 
are predicted. The return of the Jews from the 
Babylonian captivity, the rebuilding of the city in 
time of distress, the coming of Christ in humilia- 
tion, His death, the destruction of the temple and 
the city by the Romans, the desolations and wars 



130 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

which were to follow, all this is prewritten in this 
great prophecy. The final end of the times of the 
Gentiles, the great eventful week of seven years is 
revealed in the last verse. 

A Corrected Text of the Prophecy. The author- 
ized version is somewhat incorrect. We give there- 
fore first of all a corrected translation. 

Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people 
and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and 
to make an end of sins, and to cover iniquity, and to 
bring in the righteousness of the ages, and to seal the 
vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies. 
Know therefore and understand: From the going 
forth of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem 
unto Messiah, the Prince, shall be Seven Weeks and 
Sixty-two Weeks. The street and the wall shall be 
built again, even in troublous times. And after the 
Sixty-two Weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall 
have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall 
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the 
end thereof shall be with an overflow, and unto the 
end war, the desolations determined. And he shall 
confirm a covenant with the many for one week; and 
in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and 
the oblation to cease and because of the protection of 
abominations there shall be a desolator, even until the 
consummation and what is determined shall be poured 
out upon the desolator (verses 24-27). 

What are the Seventy Weeks? To many readers 
of the Book of Daniel it is not quite clear what the 
expression " seventy weeks " means and when it 
is stated that each week represents a period of seven 
years, many Christians do not know why such is 
the case. A brief word of explanation may there- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 131 

fore be in order. The literal translation of the 
term " seventy weeks " is " seventy sevens." Now 
this word " sevens " translated " weeks " may mean 
" days " and it may mean " years." What then is 
meant here, seventy times seven days or seventy 
times seven years? It is evident that the " sevens " 
mean year weeks, seven years to each prophetic 
week. Daniel was occupied in reading the books and 
in prayer with the seventy years of the Babylonian 
captivity. And now Gabriel is going to reveal to 
him something which will take place in " seventy 
sevens," which means seventy times seven years. 
The proof that such is the case is furnished by the 
fulfillment of the prophecy itself. Now seventy 
seven years makes 490 years. 

What is to be Accomplished. Verse 24 gives the 
great things, which are to be accomplished during 
these seventy year weeks or 490 years. They are 
the following: (1) To finish the transgression. 
(2) To make an end of sins. (3) To cover iniquity. 
(4) To bring in the righteousness of ages. (5) To 
seal the vision and prophet. (6) To anoint the 
Holy of Holies. 

Now it must be borne in mind that these things 
concern exclusively Daniel's people and not Gentiles 
but the holy city Jerusalem. It is clear that the 
finishing of transgression, the end of sins and the 
covering of iniquity has a special meaning for Israel 
as a nation. The foundation upon which this future 
work of Grace for His earthly people rests is the 
death of Christ. Our blessed Lord " died for that 
nation " as He also died for us who are sinners of the 



132 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Gentiles (John xi. 50). Up to now the transgression 
of the Jewish people is not yet finished nor is for 
them an end made of sins. The death of Christ has 
made this possible for the nation, but before it be- 
comes a reality this period of time, 490 years, must 
have passed, and when they are accomplished the 
transgression of His people will be finished and all 
the other blessings will come upon them. That 
will be according to other Scriptures when the 
times of the Gentiles end and when the Son of 
Man, the rejected One, appears the second time. 
Then "He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob " 
and "will take away their sins." (Rev. xi. 26-27). 
Many passages in the prophetic Word reveal the 
same promises of national cleansing and forgive- 
ness, into which we cannot enter more fully. We 
see at once that the blessings promised here to 
Daniel's people and to the holy city refer us to the 
time when the Son of Man is manifested, the time 
when the remnant of the nation shall look upon 
Him whom they have pierced (Zech. xii.). 

At the same time when God will be merciful to 
His people and cover their iniquity " the righteous- 
ness of the ages " will be brought in. This means 
the beginning of that age of blessing, which in the 
New Testament is called " the dispensation of the 
fulness of times " (Ephes. i. 10) in which the King 
shall reign in righteousness. Then righteousness 
will be established upon this earth and the holy city, 
as Gabriel calls Jerusalem, will not only be a sharer 
of the blessings and glory, but will herself be 
righteous. It is written of Jerusalem " afterward 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 133 

thou shalt be called, The City of righteousness" 
(Isaiah i. 26). Still greater is Jeremiah's word he 
received from the Lord concerning that day when 
the righteousness of the ages has come. 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
perform that good thing which I have promised unto 
the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In 
those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch 
of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall 
execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In 
those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall 
dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall 
be called, The Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 
xxxiii, 14-16). 

The vision and prophet will be sealed, that is 
accredited, because their final accomplishment has 
been reached in these events of blessing for God's 
earthly people. Also the Holy of Holies will be 
anointed, a statement which many have applied to 
our Lord. It has nothing whatever to do with Him, 
but it is the anointing of the Holy of Holies in an- 
other temple, which will stand in the midst of 
Jerusalem. Of this great millennial temple the 
prophetic Word is not silent. The other great 
prophet of the captivity, Ezekiel, had a great vision 
of this temple and its worship. 

It is of the greatest importance to grasp the 
thought that these things have nothing to do with 
Gentiles or with the church. They concern Daniel's 
people, the Jews and Jerusalem. If this had been 
understood the learned commentators would not 
have invented that misleading, blundering interpre- 



134 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

tation of the seventy weeks prophecy which is so 
universally taught in our day. We shall touch upon 
these errors in the course of our exposition. 

The Division of the Seventy Weeks. After the 
general announcement of the seventy sevens and 
what is to be accomplished for Jerusalem and 
Daniel's people when this prophetic period of time 
expires, Gabriel gives further information to the 
Prophet. This information is introduced by the 
exhortation to know and to understand or to dis- 
criminate. What follows is the division of the 
seventy weeks into three parts. The first part 
consists of seven year weeks, that is 49 years. 
The second part consists of sixty-two weeks 
or 434 years, then there is one week, the seventieth, 
left, which gives us the third part. 

The Beginning of the Seventy Weeks. We have 
to ascertain in examining the prophetic history of 
these different divisions when the seventy year 
weeks began. If we were to touch upon the differ- 
ent views and explanations, which have been made 
on this point we would have to fill numerous pages. 
One is reminded of Job xxxviii. 2 in reading the 
theories of commentators, " Who is this that dark- 
eneth counsel by words without knowledge?" The 
text is very plain. We read the definite beginning 
in verse 25. It is when the command was to be 
given to restore and build Jerusalem. From that 
time to Messiah the Prince are to be seven weeks 
and sixty-two weeks, that is 483 years. Now it is 
wrong to reckon these 70 year weeks from the time 
Daniel prayed or from the time Cyrus gave per- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 135 

mission for the people to return and to build the 
temple. In Ezra chapter i. we read that it was in 
the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the 
Lord stirred him up, whose coming and work Isaiah 
had announced long before his birth. Signifi- 
cant is the proclamation, which Cyrus sent forth. 
But it has only to do with the building of 
the temple in Jerusalem. " The Lord of heaven 
has given me all the Kingdoms of the earth; and 
He hath charged me to build Him a house at Jerusa- 
lem, which is in Judah." But this edict is not the 
starting point of the 70 year weeks, for they are to 
begin with the word to restore and build the city 
itself. But in the Book of Ezra also we find in 
chapter vii. what happened in the reign of Arta- 
xerxes, King of Persia, known in history as 
Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his 
reign. Another edict was issued, but a careful 
reading will show that the command to restore and 
build Jerusalem was not given in the seventh year 
of the reign of Artaxerxes. We have to turn to the 
second chapter in Nehemiah's writings to discover 
the beginning of these seventy year weeks. Then 
in the twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes 
the command was given to restore and build Jeru- 
salem. From this time then the seventy year weeks 
must be reckoned. This 20th year of Artaxerxes 
was the year 445 B. C, which is proven historically. 
The year is not alone mentioned in Nehemiah ii. 
but also the month. It was in Nisan. The seventy 
year weeks began therefore in the month of Nisan 
445 B. C. 



136 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

When we read that " the street and the wall 
shall be built again, even in troublous time " and 
then up to the time when Messiah is to be cut off, 
it should be 62 year weeks (434 years), we have 
the time revealed how long it would take to restore 
the city, namely 7 year weeks, 49 years. 

A Remarkable Prediction. We have then before 
us a remarkable prediction. The exact number of 
years are given when Messiah the Prince, He who 
is the Hope of His people Israel, should appear. 
But still more remarkable is the fact that a certain 
event of His life on earth is predicted. It is not 
His birth which is to take place after the expiration 
of the 69 year weeks, but He is to be " cut off and 
shall have nothing." It is a prediction of His death 
on the cross. It remains to be seen if this has 
found its literal fulfillment and if Messiah died at 
the time when the 483 years reckoned from the 
month Nisan 445 B. C. had expired. Before we do 
so we must call here attention to the pernicious 
critics of the Book of Daniel and their methods. 

We have seen before that because the critics do 
not want to believe that it is possible to predict 
far off events, such as are written in Daniel, the 
career and death of Alexander, the work of Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes and others, they invented an 
imaginary pious Jew (pious fraud) who wrote the 
Book of Daniel after Antiochus Epiphanes had been 
on the scene. Now if this were true and such a 
" pious Jew " and not Daniel wrote this book, how 
can it be explained that after all there is a prediction 
made which clearly points to the death of Christ 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 137 

and which also outlines the result upon the city of 
Jerusalem, that the people of the Prince to come 
are to destroy the city and the sanctuary? These 
gentlemen, whose habit is to deny, solved the dif- 
ficulty here by denying absolutely that the person 
called " Messiah the Prince " is Christ. What dis- 
honest methods, juggling and twisting of words 
they have used to reach this conclusion would be 
amusing, if it were not so sad. Chief among those 
is Dean Farrar on Daniel.* We quote from his 
book: 

" An anointed one shall be cut off." There can be no 
reasonable doubt that this is a reference to the desposi- 
tion of the high priest Onias III, and his murder by 
Adronicus (b. c). This startling event is men- 
tioned in 2 Mace. iv. 34, and by Josephus, and in Daniel 
xi. 22. It is added "and no ... to him." Perhaps 
the word helper" (xi. 45) has fallen out of the text, as 
Graetz supposes; or the words may mean "there is no 
(priest) for it (the people)." The A. V. renders it but 
not for himself"; and in the margin "and shall have 
nothing"; or "and they (the Jews)) shall be no more 
his people." The R. V. renders it "and shall have 
nothing." I believe with Dr. Joel that, in the Hebrew 
words " veeyn lo " there may be a sort of cryptographic 
allusion to the name Onias. "The people of the com- 
ing prince shall devastate the city and the sanctuary 
(translation uncertain). This is an obvious allusion 
to the destruction and massacre inflicted on Jerusalem 
by Appollonius and the army of Antiochus Epiphanes 

* The plates of this work were lately imported by so-called 
publishers of "Christian" literature to be sold in very cheap 
editions for use in S. Schools and Bible classes. Thus the 
most dangerous infidelity is circulated among the young and 
no voice seems to be raised against it. 



138 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

(b. c. 167), Antiochus is called the prince that shall 
come "because he was at Rome when Onias III was 
murdered." 

But enough of this; the way these men try to 
avoid the truth and by their reasoning methods try 
to get rid of everything God's people have believed 
in the past, is sufficient to show what spirit stands 
behind them. 

The Evidence that " Messiah the Prince " is 
Christ. The question then is do the words " Mes- 
siah the Prince " the One who is to be cut off and 
nothing for him, really mean Christ or some other 
anointed one, as the critics claim? The evidence 
that it is the Lord Jesus Christ is furnished in 
the most remarkable fulfillment of the prophecy in 
the time when our Lord came to Jerusalem the last 
time before His passion. Exactly 483 years after 
the command to restore and build Jerusalem had 
been given, the Lord Jesus Christ entered into Jeru- 
salem to present Himself and His claims ; a few 
days after He was nailed to the cross. This has 
been shown in a perfect chronological way so that it 
is beyond even the shadow of a doubt. We give an 
extract from " Daniel in the Critics' Den " * which 
shows this fact. 

If, therefore, the vision be a Divine prophecy, an era 
of " Sixty-nine weeks " that is 483 prophetic years, 
reckoned from the 14th of March, b. c., 445, should 

*The volume by Sir Robert Anderson "Daniel in the 
Critics' Den" is good. We heartily recommend it to our 
readers who may order through us. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 139 

close with the public presentation and death of " Mes- 
siah the Prince." No student of the Gospels can fail to 
see that the Lord's last visit to Jerusalem was not only 
in fact, but in intention the crisis of His ministry. 
From the time that the accredited leaders of the nation 
had rejected His Messianic claims, He had avoided all 
public recognition of those claims. But now His testi- 
mony had been fully given, and the purpose of His 
entry into the capital was to openly proclaim His 
Messiahship and to receive His doom. Even His 
apostles themselves had again and again been charged 
that they should not make Him known; but now He 
accepted the acclamations of the whole multitude of the 
disciples. And when the Pharisees protested, He 
silenced them with the indignant rebuke, " I tell you 
that if these should hold their peace the stones would 
immediately cry out." These words can only mean that 
the divinely appointed time had arrived for the public 
announcement of His Messiahship, and that the Divine 
purpose could not be thwarted. The full significance 
of the words which follow is lost in our Authorised 
Version. As the cry was raised by His disciples, 
" Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is the King of 
Israel that cometh in the Name of the Lord." He 
looked off towards the Holy City and exclaimed, "If 
thou also hadst known, even ON THIS DAY, the 
things that belong to thy peace — but now they are hid 
from thine eyes!" The nation had already rejected 
Him, but this was the fateful day when their decision 
must be irrevocable. And we are expressly told that 
it was the fulfillment of prophecy, " Shout O daughter 
of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee." It 
was the only occasion on which His kingly claims were 
publicly announced. 

And no other day in all His ministry will satisfy the 
words of Daniel's vision. And the date of that first 
" Palm Sunday " can be ascertained with certainty. No 



i 4 o THE PROPHET DANIEL 

year in the whole field of ancient history is more defi- 
nitely indicated than that of the beginning of our Lord's 
public ministry. According to the Evangelist it was 
"the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar/* (Luke iii. i). 
Now the reign of Tiberius, as beginning from August 
19, a. d. 14, was as well known a date in the time of 
Luke as the reign of Queen Victoria is in our own day. 
The Evangelist, moreover, with a prophetic anticipation 
of the perverseness of expositors and " reconcilers " 
goes on to name six prominent public men as holding 
specified positions in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, and 
each one of these is known to have actually held the 
position thus assigned to him in the year in question. 
As, therefore, the first Passover of the Lord's minis- 
try was that of Nisan a. d. 29, the date of the Passion 
is thus fixed by Scripture itself. For it is no longer 
necessary to offer proof that the crucifixion took place 
at the fourth Passover of the ministry. According to 
the Jewish custom, our Lord went up to Jerusalem 
on the 8th Nisan, which, as we know, fell that year 
upon a Friday. And having spent the Sabbath at 
Bethany, He entered the Holy City the following day, 
as recorded in the Gospels. The Julian date of that 
10th Nisan was Sunday the 6th of April, a. d. 32. 
What then was the length of the period intervening 
between the issuing of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem 
and this public advent of " Messiah the Prince " — be- 
tween the 14th of March, b. c. 445 and the 6th of April 
a. d. 32 (when He entered into Jerusalem) ? THE IN- 
TERVAL WAS EXACTLY AND TO THE VERY 
DAY 173, 880 DAYS, OR SEVEN TIMES SIXTY 
NINE PROPHETIC YEARS OF 360 DAYS).* 

*From b. C. 445 to a. d. 32 is 476 years = 173,740 days 
(476X365) +116 days for leap years. And from 14th March 
to 6th April, reckoned inclusively according to Jewish prac- 
tice) is 24 days. But 173,746+116+24=173,880. And 69 
X 7X360=173,880. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 141 

Here then is perfect evidence that " Messiah the 
Prince," who was to be " cut off and shall have noth- 
ing " is our Lord Jesus Christ, for He appeared in 
Jerusalem on exactly the day on which the 69 
prophetic year weeks expired and a few days later. 
He was put to death on the cross. No wonder the 
critics invent all kinds of schemes and interpreta- 
tions to get rid, so to speak, of this powerful evi- 
dence of revelation. 

The Hebrew phrase " veeyn lo " translated in the 
authorized version, but not for Himself, is better 
rendered by " and shall have nothing." It has been 
interpreted in different ways. We believe it means 
that He did not receive then the Messianic kingdom. 
He was rejected by His own and received not that 
which belongs to Him. 

The Destruction of the City Predicted. Linked 
with the cutting off of Messiah is another remark- 
able prophecy. " And the people of the prince that 
shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; 
and the end thereof shall be with an overflow, and 

It must be borne in mind here that in reckoning years 
from b. c. to a. d. one year must always be omitted; for, of 
course, the interval between b. c. i and a. d. i is not two 
years but one year. In fact b. c. i ought to be called b. c. o; 
and it is so described by astronomers, with whom b. c. 445 is 
— 444. And again, as the Julian year is 11 m. 10.46 s., or 
about the 129th part of a day, longer than the mean solar 
year, the Julian calendar has three leap years too many in 
every four centuries. This error is corrected by the Gre- 
gorian reform, which reckons three secular years out of four 
as common years. For instance, 1700, 1800, and 1900 were 
common years, and 2000 will be a leap year. 



142 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

unto the end Jvar — the desolations determined." 
Judgment according to this is to overtake the city 
which rejected the Messiah and both the city and 
the Temple were to be destroyed. This work was 
to be done " by the people of the prince that shall 
come." j The prince of course is not " Messiah the 
Prince," it is a prince that shall come. But he him- 
self is not to destroy the city and the sanctuary, but 
the people from whose midst that coming prince is 
to arise, will do the destructive work. Now the 
people who are here in view are the Romans. Out 
of the Roman empire there shall arise in the future 
a prince. This prince or chief of the fourth empire 
is identical with the little horn of Daniel vii. Once 
more the head of the restored Roman empire as it is 
to be during the time of the end looms up before 
us in the last two verses of this chapter. The 
people of the coming prince, the Romans, were to 
come and destroy both city and temple, after 
Messiah had been cut off and had nothing for Him- 
self. And this came to pass as everybody knows. 
Our Lord had predicted this doom of Jerusalem and 
had wept over it as He beheld the awful doom in 
store for the city. The Jews had anticipated what 
would come for the chief priests and Pharisees de- 
clared " The Romans will come and take away both 
our place and our nation." (John xi. 48.) The 
Romans under Titus Vespasianus in the year 70 ful- 
filled this prediction and in that year the prophecy 
before us became history. But Titus is not " the 
prince that shall come." 
The Future of the Jews Foretold. Another 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 143 

prophecy is linked with the one just examined. 
" The end thereof shall be with an overflow, and 
unto the end war — the desolations determined." 
These words give us the history of the Jewish 
people, of their land and their city, up to the present 
time. It is identical with what our Lord said, " and 
they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall 
be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem 
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the 
times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke xxi. 24.) 
Both the prediction as communicated to Daniel by 
Gabriel and the words of our Lord tell of what is to 
be the lot of the Jews and of Jerusalem throughout 
this present age, till the end of the times of the Gen- 
tiles has been reached. History gives the answer 
about the fulfillment of these words. 

The Seventieth Year Week. We have found up 
to this point that 69 weeks or 483 years of the 70 
year weeks are past. But what about the remaining 
7 years, the Seventieth week? The last verse of 
Chapter ix tells us of that one week. It has not 
yet come, but still lies in the future. 

The course of the 70 year weeks was interrupted 
by the rejection of Messiah the Prince, who came 
to His own and they received Him not. With this 
event, as we have seen, the 69th week closed and 
an indefinite period of unreckoned time follows; 
when that is expired the last prophetic week of 
seven years will begin and run its appointed course. 

A close scrutiny of the 26th verse will make this 
clear. While we know that the Messiah was cut 
off immediately upon the close of the 69th week, 



144 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

nothing is said about the time when the destruction 
of the city and the sanctuary should take place. 
History tells us it transpired 38 years after the death 
of Christ. Wars should continue to the end, but not 
a word is said when that end is to come. The one 
week, that is the Seventieth week, is mentioned in 
the verse which follows this prediction, it comes 
therefore after this long interval has terminated. 

This unreckoned period of time at the close of the 
69th week has already lasted almost 1900 years. 
During this time the Jewish people have been scat- 
tered among all the nations of the earth and the 
predicted miseries written in their own law and in 
the prophets have been fulfilled in every generation. 
Yet God has preserved them not alone physically 
but also as a distinct race, even as our Lord an- 
nounced when He spoke of the events of the last 
week of Daniel in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 
xxiv.). " This generation (race) shall not pass, till 
all these things be fulfilled." 

During this unreckoned period of time God has 
made known by revelation the blessed mystery of 
eternity, a mystery not made known in other ages, 
concerning the church. There is now being gath- 
ered out from the nations a people for His Name 
and the church is still building. The Gospel is be- 
ing heralded world-wide. The heavens, however, 
are closed and this unreckoned period of time lead- 
ing up to the end of the times of the Gentiles runs 
its appointed course. As we do not write on this 
present and, in the Old Testament, unrevealed age 
and its characteristics, we must turn our attention 
to the events recorded in verse 27. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 145 

Who Confirms a Covenant? The first thing we 
read is " And he shall confirm a (not the) covenant 
with the many for one week." We must remind 
ourselves again that all we read here concerns, as 
did the previous 69 weeks, Daniel's people, the Jews. 
When that last week of seven years begins, preced- 
ing the time of ultimate blessing for the Jewish 
people, one will make a covenant with the mass of 
Jews. The question arises, who then is this person 
and what is the covenant he makes? 

We mentioned before an erroneous view, which 
holds that everything predicted in these 70 weeks 
has been fulfilled in the past. The view holds that 
Messiah the Prince, the one who was cut off, is our 
Lord. However, the teaching is that " the prince 
that shall come " is also Christ and that it is Christ 
Himself who confirms the covenant in the last week. 
We quote Dr. Pusey who delivered a series of very 
learned lectures on Daniel at Oxford, and whose 
book on Daniel is considered an authority : 

Not in, but after, these Sixty-two weeks, it is said, 
Messiah shall be cut off. Then follows the subdivision 
of the last week (verse 27) or seven years, wherein he 
was to be cut off, and yet not in the Sixty-nine weeks. 
He shall make then a covenant with many for one 
week and in the midst of the week he shall cause the 
sacrifice and oblation to cease.* 

The Lord Jesus Christ is believed to be the one 
who makes the covenant. The cessation of the 
sacrifice and oblation in the midst of the week is 
explained as having been accomplished by His death 
on the cross. But such a view is altogether un- 
tenable. According to this widely accepted theory 

* Pusey, Daniel, page 176, 



146 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Christ made a covenant for seven years. Where is 
this stated elsewhere in Scripture? Nowhere is 
there even a hint that Christ was to confirm a 
covenant with many for seven years, but His 
covenant is an everlasting one. The error springs 
from the fact that the future of the Jewish people is 
not considered and the teaching of what is yet to be 
in the time of the end is completely passed by. 

The one who confirms the covenant with the 
many for one week is " the prince that shall come " 
of verse 26. The prince that shall come, as we have 
seen, rises from the people who destroyed the city 
and the sanctuary, the Roman people. The prince 
that shall come is the dreadful little horn on the 
fourth beast (the Roman empire), the great head of 
the Roman empire seen as the Beast out of the Sea 
in Revelation xiii. When the last seven years, so 
pregnant with Jewish events, begin, the first thing 
will be that the Jews look for protection to the great 
Man, who as a mighty prince controls the affairs of 
the Roman empire brought together under him as 
head. The aim of the Jews is to repossess Pales- 
tine, to have a Jewish state and to gain possession 
of the city of Jerusalem, so that they may be able to 
have a temple and their sacrificial ceremonies again. 
Zionism is the step towards such a restoration in 
unbelief, the first beginnings of it. This coming 
prince, the beast, will take the Jews and their de- 
sires into consideration, perhaps he needs them too 
in the beginning of his career. He will make a 
covenant with them and under this covenant, most 
likely, they will be permitted to possess Palestine 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 147 

and to build a temple in Jerusalem. He will also 
promise them protection against any outside foes, 
especially the one who threateningly arises in the 
North, the Assyrian of Prophecy. 

This covenant the Roman prince will make with 
the many, not with all the Jews. Throughout the 
prophetic Word we find the clearest evidences of a 
remnant of Jews, who trusting in the Lord, will see 
through this wicked prince and refuse to have any- 
thing whatever to do with that covenant. Isaiah 
xxviii. 15 and 18 speak of this covenant. It is there 
called a covenant with death and an agreement with 
hell. 

After the first three and one-half years of this last 
prophetic week are gone, he will break the covenant 
by causing the sacrifice and oblation to cease. From 
the Book of Revelation we learn that at that time 
he will become possessed by the power of Satan. 
In fellowship with the second beast, the false 
prophet, the personal Antichrist, who is in Jeru- 
salem, he introduces idolatry and the most awful 
blasphemies among the Jews. All the temple cere- 
monials, sacrifices and oblations will have to be 
abandoned. The apostate nation will accept the 
Antichrist as their Messiah and king and fall in 
line with these blasphemies. Then the char- 
acter of the little horn and what was said of him 
will fully come out. " He shall speak great words 
against the most High, and shall wear out the Saints 
of the most High (the Jews who refused to enter 
his covenant), and think to change times and laws, 
and they shall be given into his hands until a time 



148 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

and times and the dividing of time." (Three and 
one-half years — Daniel vii. 25). "And there was 
given unto him a mouth speaking great things and 
blasphemies, and power was given unto him to con- 
tinue forty-two months" (Rev. xiii. 5). This 
shows the work he will do for 1260 days, 42 months, 
3j£ years, the last half of the Seventieth week. The 
part of the personal Antichrist in these 1260 days 
the Zy 2 years is described in Revel, xiii. 11-17. An 
image of the first beast, the wicked head of the 
Roman power will be set up and the great idol en- 
dued with supernatural, satanic power must be 
worshipped under the penalty of death. Antichrist 
himself, this wicked counterfeit of the true Christ, 
takes a place in the temple of God and by lying 
wonders shews himself that he is God and exalting 
himself above all that is God and that is worshipped. 
Then the great tribulation will be in force and the 
Jewish faithful remnant will pass through the deep- 
est waters of suffering. In the details of all this we 
must not enter at this time for it would make it nec- 
essary that we follow the greater part of the Book 
of Revelation in which we have the fuller descrip- 
tion of the last half of the Seventieth week of 
Daniel's prophecy, as well as the first Zy 2 years. 

We have still something unexplained in the last 
verse of our chapter. We read " and because of the 
protection (lit. wing) of abominations there shall be 
a desolator, even until the consummation and what 
is determined shall be poured out upon the desola- 
tor." We shall not weary our readers with giving 
them the different views and opinions on this seem- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 149 

ingly difficult passage. The abominations men- 
tioned are idols and idol worship. The protection, 
or wing, of these idols is sought by the people and 
God is completely forgotten and set aside by the 
apostate masses, who bow before the Antichrist. 
The fulfillment of the words of our Lord in Mat- 
thew has come : 

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he 
walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth 
none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from 
whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth 
it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and 
taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked 
than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and 
the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even 
so shall it be also unto this wicked generation (Matth. 
xii; 43-45). 

The wicked spirit, idolatry, will take hold of them 
and they will be swept along into the worst 
blasphemies and worship Satan's masterpiece. 
On account of this abomination " there shall 
be a desolator," one who desolates the land. This 
desolator will continue to plague the Jews from the 
outside, while the Antichrist is with them in Jeru- 
salem. The desolator will devastate the land and 
conquer Jerusalem till the consummation is reached. 
The consummation is the close of the seven years. 
When that is reached the desolator himself will be 
dealt with in judgment as well as the two beasts. 
Who is the desolator? The King of the North, the 
Assyrian of the endtime ; he is the one of whom we 
read in the previous chapter and whose terrible 



150 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

work against the apostate nation is here once more 
touched upon as falling into the second half of the 
last prophetic week. 

It is interesting to compare the two New Testa- 
ment records which give a larger vision of the 
events of the seven years which are in store for 
Daniel's people and the Holy City, before the full 
blessing for the remnant of this people and for Jeru- 
salem can come. These records are Matthew xxiv. 
and that part of Revelation which treats of these 
coming events, Chapters vi.-xix. The reader will 
find this followed out in our exposition of the Gos- 
pel of Matthew.* 

And how far is the beginning of this last week of 
Daniel from our times? No one can give an an- 
swer. God only knows how soon all will come to 
pass. However, there is a sign present with us 
which is very significant. It is the restoration 
movement of the Jews and their inability to carry 
out the plans and schemes for their complete re- 
storation. They are waiting for " the Prince that 
shall come." It behooves us to wait and watch. 
The days of God's Saints may be very few on earth. 
The last and next great event in the unreckoned 
period of time, between the 69th and 70th week, is 
the coming of the Lord for His Saints and that Is 
imminent. 

* Gospel of Matthew by A. C. G., $1.50 postpaid. 



II 



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CHAPTER X 
The Preparation for the Final Prophecy 

The three remaining chapters in the Book of 
Daniel belong together. They contain the last 
great vision given to the aged prophet, a vision, 
which in some respects is even more striking than 
the preceding one. The tenth chapter contains the 
account of the deep soul exercise through which the 
prophet passed and how supernatural Beings ap- 
peared and talked to the man greatly beloved. It 
is the preparation for the vision itself contained in 
the eleventh chapter, continued in the twelfth, 
which forms a kind of an epilogue. 

The chapter before us is of great interest, because 
it gives information which is of much value about 
the unseen spirits, good and evil, while other even 
more helpful spiritual lessons are to be found here. 

The Third Year of Cyrus. The first verse tells 
us of the exact time when Daniel received this last 
great revelation. 

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was 
revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshaz- 
zar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed 
was long:* and he understood the thing, and had under- 
standing of the vision. 

*This phrase is a faulty translation; the literal Hebrew is 
"even great war far e." 

151 



152 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Cyrus, the great King of Persia, was already in 
the third year of his reign. In his first year Cyrus 
had published the great proclamation in which he 
had given the astounding information that " the 
Lord God of heaven " had charged him to build him 
a house in Jerusalem. (Ezra i.) That he was the 
divinely chosen instrument for this purpose we 
learned before from Isaiah's great prophecy in 
which long before his birth he had been named and 
his work predicted. Daniel, however, had not 
made use of the decree to return and he still re- 
mained in the scene of captivity. Probably he held 
no longer any high office in connection with the gov- 
ernment. The last verse in the first chapter seems 
to indicate this. There it is stated that he con- 
tinued unto the first year of King Cyrus ; it must 
mean in practical association with the affairs of the 
Persian Kingdom. Why Daniel stayed behind is 
not stated. Though the decree had gone forth 
that the house should be built, there was a feeble 
response and a small number only returned. No 
doubt Daniel looking for new revelations concerning 
the time of the end, had waited on the Lord and had 
received the direction to tarry in the land of the 
Gentiles. The Lord had still some important 
visions for him in store relating to His own people. 
Now the thing, which was made known unto him 
was " the great warfare " (the literal Hebrew) and 
that great warfare in the near future and what is to 
take place in the distant future when Daniel's people 
should be delivered (xii. 1) is the subject of this 
final vision given to Daniel before he went to his 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 153 

rest. As we shall find the vision stands in closest 
relation with that contained in Chapter viii. It is 
an expansion of that vision, containing the prophetic 
record of the overthrow of the Persian empire by 
Greece and the minutest details of the wars of the 
Ptolemies and Seleucidae, springing up out of the 
divided Grecian empire. Now while at the close of 
Chapter viii. it is written that Daniel fainted and 
" none understood," here we find that he had the 
understanding given to him. May it not be that 
Daniel continued in prayer after God had so won- 
derfully answered his former prayer in the preced- 
ing chapter? As none understood the vision in 
Chapter viii., Daniel must have asked the Lord for 
the understanding and then it was revealed to him. 
We read furthermore that for three weeks he was 
mourning in connection with his earnest seeking for 
the meaning of the vision and he also fasted. 

In those days I Daniel was mourning three full 
weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor 
wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, 
till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 

The weeks mentioned here are not " year weeks," 
but the Hebrew distinguishes them by associating 
with them days, literally " weeks of days." For 
three weeks he remained in that condition and there 
was no answer. What delayed the answer for three 
full weeks we shall discover in the course of this 
chapter. 

In the fourth verse the time and the place are 
specified, when and where all this took place. On 



154 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

the twenty-fourth day of the first month Daniel was 
by the side of the great river Hiddekel. Hiddekel 
(arcadian, Iddiklat) is the river Tigris and on its 
banks the prophet was bodily present. 

The Appearance of " A Certain Man." It was at 
that time when Daniel, whose eyes had been down- 
cast, lifted them up and beheld a supernatural Being 
in his presence. 

And on the four and twentieth day of the first month, 
as I was by the side of the great river, which is 
Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, 
and beheld a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins 
were girded with fine gold of Uphaz : His body also was 
like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of 
lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms 
and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the 
voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I 
Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were 
with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell 
upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 
Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, 
and there remained no strength in me: for my comli- 
ness was turned in me to corruption, and I retained no 
strength. Yet heard I the voice Of his words: and 
when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a 
deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground 
(verses 4-9). 

The question is who was this " certain man," or as 
it reads literally in Hebrew, "a man of desires"? 
Some believe it was Gabriel who appeared once 
more, as he had come to Daniel in Chapters viii. and 
ix. Others have taught it was another mighty 
angel. While a few expositors of this chapter 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 155 

have taught that it was none other than the Lord 
Himself who paid a visit to the Prophet, just as He 
came in the form of a Man to Abraham (Genesis 
xviii). We incline to this view and believe that the 
greatly beloved man was favored with a Theophany. 
Those who object to this view point to the thir- 
teenth verse where one declares that he was hin- 
dered and needed the help of the archangel Michael. 
But it is not necessary at all to identify the speaker 
of verse 13 with the one who at first appeared unto 
Daniel. If it were the same who tells Daniel that 
he had to call upon Michael for help, He certainly 
could not have been the Lord; He needs no help 
from any creature, though he be the archangel. 
However, it is quite clear that the appearing of the 
Being described by Daniel in verses 4-9 is no longer 
in view in the tenth verse. The one who touches 
Daniel and addressed him is no longer He whose 
form He beheld, in whose presence He stood alone, 
before whom he laid prostrate in the dust and whose 
voice he had heard when he had fallen in a deep 
sleep. 

The evidence that we have here an appearing of 
God the Son before His incarnation, in the form of a 
Man, a great Christophany, is very convincing. 
Daniel was blessed as the man greatly beloved with 
a manifestation of the Lord of Glory, just as the 
beloved disciple John, over 600 years later, was 
likewise permitted to see the same Lord of Glory. 
There is only one difference. Daniel saw Him be- 
fore His incarnation and John beheld Him in the 
island of Patmos after His death, triumphant resur- 



156 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

rection and ascension into Glory. Both, however, 
are strikingly alike. In Revelation i. 12-17 we find 
the manifestation, which is so much like the one 
Daniel had on the river banks of Hiddekel. Any- 
one comparing this Scripture with Daniel's record 
of what he saw must feel convinced that it is one 
and the same person. And there is also a hint in 
connection with that vision of Glory, which Saul of 
Tarsus had on the road to Damascus. The men 
that were with Daniel saw not the vision, but a 
great fear came upon them and they fled. The com- 
panions of Saul were likewise filled with terror 
" hearing a voice, but seeing no man." (Acts ix. 7). 

The effect of this great manifestation upon Daniel 
was the same which happened to John. " And when 
I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead." (Revel, i. 17.) 
Daniel also was on his face toward the ground and 
his comeliness was turned in him into corruption. 
The deep sleep which overcame him corresponds 
to the term " as dead " in John's experience. 

What lessons there are for us here. We may 
see here the blessedness of the faith life in its prog- 
ress. Daniel began as the lad, the young captive 
in Babylon with the simple purpose of faith. God 
sustained him and blessed him with wisdom and un- 
derstanding. This was the lesson concerning faith 
we found in the first chapter. Then when Neb- 
uchadnezzar had forgotten his dream, Daniel 
acted in faith, when he promised to make the dream 
known and when he and his companion cast them- 
selves upon the Lord, the dream was revealed unto 
him. God thus honored his faith. Then he talked 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 157 

with angels. Visions came to him. Gabriel ap- 
peared next and afterwards was sent " flying 
swiftly " with the great message to Daniel. And 
now after Daniel's prayer and fasting, the Lord 
Himself appeared to the Prophet, who had been so 
faithful. Thus he went " from Glory to Glory." 

Yet though he was the man greatly beloved and 
enjoyed the favor of the Lord to a high degree, 
though he had been such a faithful servant for so 
many years and honored the Lord as but few of the 
great men of God have done, when he comes face to 
face with the Lord of Glory, he utterly collapses and 
sinks into the dust in His holy and glorious pres- 
ence. And that is the place which belongs to every 
saint, even the most advanced in spiritual knowl- 
edge and the most self-sacrificing in service. In 
His presence we must own our utter nothingness 
and unworthiness. 

The Mystery of the Delayed Answer. And now 
other angelic beings under the Lord of Glory are 
manifested and speak to Daniel, one of them, no 
doubt, was Gabriel. 

And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me 
upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And 
he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, 
understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand 
upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he 
had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 
Then said he unto me, Fear not Daniel: for from the 
first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, 
and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were 
heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince 
of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty 



158 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came 
to help me; and I remained there with the kings of 
Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what 
shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the 
vision is for many days. And when he had spoken 
such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, 
and I became dumb (verses 10-15). 

Without following every detail of the experience, 
which Daniel here records, we turn at once to that 
which is the important information in these words. 
The heavenly visitor who addressed Daniel as a 
" man greatly beloved " and before whom he stood 
trembling, still shaking on account of the One he 
had beheld at the river bank, now brings him in- 
telligence concerning the delayed answer. Three 
weeks before Daniel had begun to chasten and set 
himself to understand, three weeks he had sought 
the answer to his prayer, but no answer reached 
him. The heavens seemed to be closed. How dif- 
ferent it was from his experience in the preceding 
chapter. Then he was not even permitted to finish 
his prayer. His prayer of humiliation and confes- 
sion was suddenly answered by the man Gabriel. 
And now three full weeks had gone and there had 
been no answer to his prayer. 

The same messenger now tells Daniel that as soon 
as he had begun his exercise on earth, his words, 
that is, his prayers were heard. Blessed comfort 
there is in this assuring word ! As soon as we ap- 
proach the throne of Grace and approach it now in 
this present dispensation in " that worthy Name," 
our words are heard. And should that not be suffi- 
cient? May it not be the very best after all not to 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 159 

trouble ourselves so much about the answer to 
prayer as some Christians do? We can leave the 
answer with Him " who does all things well " and 
acts as it pleases Him. " Thy prayer is heard " is 
sweet to faith. 

And the messenger assured Daniel that he has 
come with the answer. But why was he three full 
weeks late in transmitting to Daniel the message? 
The answer was delayed by the Prince of the King- 
dom of Persia, who withstood him for exactly three 
full weeks and so great was the power of the Prince 
of Persia that the help of the mighty archangel 
Michael was needed to help him through. 

Who then is the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia? 
Certainly no one would believe that the Prince of 
Persia here means Cyrus.* Who could for a mo- 
ment think that a mere human being, though a 
mighty prince, could intercept a spirit being with a 
message from above! But if it is not the actual 
Prince of Persia, who then is it who withstood God's 
messenger? It was a powerful wicked spirit, who 

^However some of the so-called learned commentators claim 
that Cyrus is meant. Here is Adam Clarke's comment : I 
think it would go far to make a legend, or a precarious tale, 
of this important place, to endeavor to maintain that either 
a good or evil angel is intended here. Cyrus alone was the 
prince of Persia, and God had destined him to be the deliverer 
of His people: but there were some matters, of which we 
are not informed, that caused him to hesitate for some time. 
Fearing probably the greatness of the work, and not being 
fully satisfied of his ability to execute it; he therefore for 
a time resisted the secret inspirations which God had sent 
him. The opposition might be in reference to the building of 
the Temple. 



160 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

controlled as a messenger of Satan the affairs of the 
Kingdom of Persia. Satan is the head of innumer- 
able fallen angels. As the " god of this age " he 
controls the affairs of the Kingdoms of this world 
and the wicked spirits in the heavenly sphere are his 
agents, by whom he effects this control. Satan is 
not omnipotent, nor omniscient nor omnipresent, 
but through the wicked spirits, who are under him, 
he is well nigh omnipresent and omniscient. In 
Ephesians vi. 12, they are called " the world rulers 
of this darkness" (this age). Satan did not speak 
an untruth when he told our Lord on the moun- 
tain of temptation, that he had the Kingdoms of the 
world in his power, that they were his. They are 
still in his mighty grasp, till some day he will be 
stripped of these possessions. 

Now over each Kingdom he puts some evil spirit 
to exercise his influence. He himself as the prince 
of the power in the air is above them all and stands 
behind all these agencies. This is seen from other 
Scriptures. For instance in Ezekiel xxviii. 11-19, 
we have a word addressed to the King of Tyrus. In 
connection with that King a description is given of 
another being, who stood behind that King as the 
controlling power, and that description fits only one, 
Satan. 

The power and domain of Satan is in the heavens, 
right above the earth and upon the earth as well. 
From above and through the evil angels he still has 
hold on the Kingdoms of the earth. And so it was 
that over the Kingdom of Persia a fallen angel, one 
who belongs to the principalities and powers men- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 161 

tioned in Ephesians, had charge. This being with- 
stood the messenger for three weeks. There was 
conflict in the air. The great archangel Michael (as 
we know from the New Testament the only arch- 
angel of the Bible) had come to the assistance 
of the messenger. This is the first time we find 
Michael mentioned in the Bible. It is not the first 
time that he acted, for from the Epistle of Jude we 
know, that when Moses had died, Michael was pres- 
ent and faced the devil then. We find him gen- 
erally in connection with the Jewish people. He is, 
so to speak, the guardian angel of Israel. " And at 
that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince 
which standeth for the children of Thy people." 
(Dan. xii. 1). This passage tells that at some future 
time this mighty Archangel will stand up for the 
Jewish people. When that will be we shall find 
when we read the last chapter of this Book. A 
great conflict in the heavenlies will yet take place 
when Michael and his angels will fight the dragon 
and the evil angels associated with him (Revel, xii.). 
Some teach that Michael (his name means "who 
is like God?") is our Lord. ?*ut this cannot T)e 
maintained in the light of the Epistle of Jude (see 
verse 9). What power Satan must possess when 
he was enabled through a demon prince to hold 
God's messenger in check and keep back God's 
message !* Here are some mysterious things. Why 
he is still allowed to do this work in Kingdoms, 

*We recommend to our friends a very helpful book Sii 
" Satan and His Power," by F. C. Jennings. Publ. by " Our 
Hope," 80 Second Street, N. Y. 



162 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

is responsible for the bloody wars among the nations 
and for the abominable things in idolatrous heathen- 
dom, we do not fully understand now. But the pas- 
sage gives us a hint how in our individual lives as 
believers, he too does interfere and with his many 
adversaries attacks and harasses. On the other 
hand there is the comfort that there are the good 
angels, who keep and defend those who are the 
Lord's. " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of 
salvation? " (Hebrews i. 14). Some day in the pres- 
ence of the Lord we shall fully know the secret 
things of the unseen spirits, both good and evil. 

An Important Statement. An important state- 
ment is made by the messenger when he declares 
that he has come to tell Daniel and make him under- 
stand " what shall befall Thy people (the Jews) in 
the latter days (or : the end of days) ; for the vision 
is yet for many days (or: for those days) " (verse 
14). This ought to settle once and for all the scope 
of this final vision. While it has for a prelude, as 
we shall find, the wars which were fought by the 
Ptolemies and otheis and we behold a still more 
minute description of Antiochus Epiphanes, yet 
the vision concerns the Jewish people in the time 
of the end (the seventieth week, more correctly the 
last 2>y 2 years). What is to befall them at that 
time is brought out. If this had been understood 
expositors would never have fallen into the fanciful 
and erroneous interpretations, which claim that it 
concerns the church and that the papacy is the Anti- 
christ. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 163 

When the messenger had concluded we behold 
the venerable prophet with face toward the ground 
and speechless. It is the attitude of deep humility 
and his willingness to listen only. 

The Prophet Strengthened to Receive the Vision. 
Messengers of God appear now and they strength- 
ened the aged servant and prophet. 

And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of 
men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and 
spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my 
lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, 
and I have retained no strength. For how can the 
servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as 
for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, 
neither is there breath left in me. Then there came 
again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, 
and he strengthened me. And said, O man greatly be- 
loved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be 
strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was 
strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou 
hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou 
wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to 
fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone 
forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will 
shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth : 
and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, 
but Michael your prince (verses 16-21). 

First the prophet's lips are touched (compare with 
Isaiah vii. 6-7) and then he is enabled to speak. 
The first utterance which comes from these opened 
lips since the great vision had passed before him, 
is the expression of his great weakness and that 
he retained no strength. He was overwhelmed with 
holy awe so that no strength was left in him. And 



164 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

this place of utter weakness is the place of blessing. 
Again he is touched. The first touch meant the 
opening of the prophet's lips and after his confes- 
sion of weakness the second touch by which he was 
strengthened. And if a servant of God like Daniel 
needed such exercise how needful it is for us. 

Then he received the message of peace and com- 
fort. Fear not; Peace be unto thee, be strong, yea 
be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I 
was strengthened. His mind and heart was brought 
to rest and all his fears were silenced. Such per- 
fect rest and quietness was needed for Daniel to 
receive the prophecy and to understand the vision. 
It is needed by all who desire to lay hold of the 
things of God relating to the future. The child of 
God who is in unrest and is not close to the Lord 
is unfitted to understand the prophetic Word. And 
this is one of the reasons, why there is so little 
desire to know what God has revealed concerning 
the future. The heart which does not enjoy the 
peace of God cannot enjoy the blessed things God 
has made known in prophecy. 

Daniel, like young Samuel, said " let my Lord 
speak." The messenger intimates that he will re- 
turn to fight with the prince of Persia and then the 
prince of Grecia was likewise to follow. He an- 
nounces that he will now show the prophet what 
is noted in " Kitab Emeth," the " Scriptures of 
Truth." This remarkable expression refers not 
to some unwritten book, as some have taken it, but 
to an actual writing, as the Hebrew expresses it, 
" Writing of Truth." It is the name given by this 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 165 

messenger of God to the Book which under the 
inspiration of the Holy Spirit was written by- 
Daniel. In what light the critics appear, who are 
denying the inspiration of this book and who class 
its sublime revelations with myths and legends ! 

Persia and Greece being mentioned by the angel 
directs us to the vision itself as contained in chapter 
xi. From the conflict which is indicated between 
the evil spirits and God's messengers and Michael, 
the defender of the Jewish people, we may gather 
again what is going on in the unseen world in con- 
nection -with the struggles on earth. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Wars of the Ptolemies and Seleucidae Pre- 
dicted. The Coming Events of the Time of the 
End 

If there is to be a division into chapters at all, 
it is evident that the first verse of the eleventh 
chapter belongs to the preceding one. There should 
be no break whatever. With the second verse the 
great prophecy begins. Here we have indeed his- 
tory prewritten and the greater part of this chapter 
(verses 2-35) is fulfilled historically. So accurate 
are these predictions and their subsequent fulfill- 
ment that the enemies of " the Scripture of Truth " 
have declared that it could never have been written 
by Daniel several hundred years before these per- 
sons came into existence and fought their battles. 
The pagan Porphyry in the third century in his 
" Treatise against Christians " bitterly attacked the 
belief that Daniel wrote these predictions. He 
argued that all was written after the events had 
taken place. The same arguments are used by the 
critics. Such is this most subtle infidelity that it 
can make use of the statements of a poor heathen 
in opposition to the divine revelation. 

166 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



167 



If we were to enter into the details of each verse 
and show the most remarkable historical fulfillment 
we would have to fill a hundred or more pages. 
This we cannot do. But our exposition would not 
be complete if we were to pass it over entirely. 
We shall therefore quote the text and show opposite 
each verse a brief statement on how the prediction 
was fulfilled. 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

And now will I shew thee 
the truth. Behold, there 
shall stand up yet three 
kings in Persia; and the 
fourth shall be far richer 
than they all: and by his 
strength through his riches 
he shall stir up all against 
the realm of Grecia. (Verse 
2.) 



Fulfillment 

See Ezra iv. 5-24. The 
three kings were : Ahasuerus, 
Artaxerxes and Darius, 
Known in history as Cam- 
byses, Pseudo Smerdis and 
Darius Hystaspis (not 
Darius the Mede). The 
fourth one was Xerxes, who, 
as history tells us was im- 
mensely rich. The invasion 
of Greece took place in 480 
b. c. 



And a mighty king shall 
stand up, that shall rule with 
great dominion, and do ac- 
cording to his will. (Verse 
3.) 



The successors of Xerxes 
are not mentioned. The 
mighty king in this verse is 
the notable horn seen by 
Daniel on the he-goat in 
chapter viii, Alexander the 
Great. 335 b. c. 



And when he shall stand 
up, his kingdom shall be 
broken, and shall be divided 
toward the four winds of 
heaven; and not to his pos- 



b. c. 323. Alexander died 
young. The notable horn 
was broken. His kingdom 
was divided into four parts 
(four winds) after the battle 



i68 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

terity, nor according to his 
dominion which he ruled: 
for his kingdom shall be 
plucked up even for others 
besides those. (Verse 4.) 



And the king of the south 
shall be strong, and one of 
his princes; and he shall be 
strong above him, and have 
dominion ; his dominion 
shall be a great dominion. 
(Verse 5-)J 



And in the end of years 
they shall join themselves to- 
gether; for the king's daugh- 
ter of the south shall come 
to the king of the north to 
make an agreement; but she 
shall not retain the power of 
the arm; neither shall he 
stand, nor his arm: but she 
shall be given up, and they 
that brought her, and he 
that begat her, and he that 
strengthened her in these 
times. (Verse 6.) 



Fulfillment 
of Ipsus 301 b. c. His pos- 
terity did not receive the 
kingdom, but his four gen- 
erals, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, 
Seleucus Nicator and Cass- 
ander. Not one of these 
division reached to the glory 
of Alexander's dominion. 

Asia and Greece are not 
followed but Syria and 
Egypt become prominent, be- 
cause the King of the 
North from S}Tia, and the 
King of the South, Egypt, 
were to come in touch with 
the Jews. The holy land be- 
came involved with both. 
The King of the South was 
Ptolemy Lagus. One of his 
princes was Seleucus Nica- 
tor. He established a great 
dominion, which extended to 
the Indus. 

Here is another gap. This 
verse takes us to 250 b. c. 
The two who make an alli- 
ance are the Kings of the 
North (Syrian division of 
the Grecian Empire) and of 
the South (Egypt). This 
alliance was effected by the 
marriage of the daughter of 
the King of the South, the 
Egyptian Princess Berenice, 
daughter of Ptolemy II., to 
Antiochus Theos, the King 
of the North. The agree- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



169 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 



But out of a branch of her 
roots shall one stand up in 
his estate, which shall come 
with an army, and shall enter 
into the fortress of the king 
of the north, and shall deal 
against them, and shall pre- 
vail. (Verse 7.) 



And shall also carry cap- 
tives into Egypt their gods, 
with their princes, and with 
their precious vessels of sil- 
ver and gold; and he shall 
continue more years than the 
king of the north. (Verse 
8.) 

So the King of the South 
shall come into his kingdom, 
and shall return into his own 
land. (Verse 9.) 



Fulfillment 

ment was that Antiochus 
had to divorce his wife and 
make any child of Berenice 
his heir in the kingdom. 
The agreement ended in 
calamity. When Ptolemy 
died Antiochus Theos in 247 
called back his former wife. 
Berenice and her young son 
were poisoned and the first 
wife's son, Callinicus, was 
put on the throne as Seleu- 
cus II. 

The one out of her roots 
(Berenice, who had been 
murdered) was her own 
brother, Ptolemy Euergetes, 
who avenged her death. He 
conquered Syria. He dealt 
against Seleucus II, King of 
the North and slew the wife 
of Antiochus Theos, who 
had Berenice poisoned. He 
seized the fortress, the port 
of Antioch. 

Ptolemy Euergetes did 
exactly as predicted. He re- 
turned with 4000 talents of 
gold and 40,000 talents of 
silver and 2500 idols and 
idolatrous vessels. Many of 
these Cambyses had taken to 
Persia. 

In 240 b. c. Seleucus Cal- 
linicus the King of the 
North invaded Egypt. He 
had to return defeated. His 



170 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

(Literal translation) : "and 
the same (King of the 
North) shall come into the 
realm of the King of the 
South, but shall return into 
his own land." 

But his sons shall be 
stirred up, and shall as- 
semble a multitude of great 
forces: and one shall cer- 
tainly come, and overflow, 
and pass through : then shall 
he return, and be stirred up, 
even to his fortress. (Verse 
10.) 



Fulfillment 

fleet perished in a storm. 



And the King of the South 
shall be moved with choler, 
and shall come forth and 
fight with him, even with the 
King of the North: and he 
shall set forth a great multi- 
tude but the multitude shall 
be given into his hand. 
(Verse n.) 

And when he hath taken 
away the multitude, his heart 
shall be lifted up; and he 
shall cast down many ten 
thousands: but he shall not 
be strengthened by it. (Verse 

12.) 



The sons of Seleucus Cal- 
linicus were Seleucus III and 
Antiochus the Great. Seleu- 
cus (Ceraunos) III began 
war against Egyptian Prov- 
inces in Asia Minor. He 
was unsuccessful. The 
other son Antioch invaded 
Egypt and passed through 
because Ptolemy Philopater 
did not oppose him. b. c. 
218 Antiochus continued his 
warfare and took the fort- 
ress Gaza. 

In 217 b. C. Ptolemy 
aroused himself and fought 
Antiochus the Great with an 
immense army. He defeated 
Antiochus. The multitude 
was given into the hands of 
Ptolemy Philopater. 



The people of Egypt rose 
up and the weakling Ptolemy 
became courageous. His vic- 
tory is again referred to. It 
was won at Raphia. He 
might have pressed his vic- 
tory. But he did not make 
use of it but gave himself 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



171 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

(Literal: "And the multi- 
tude shall rise up and his 
courage increase") 

For the King of the North 
shall return, and shall set 
forth a multitude greater 
than the former, and shall 
certainly come after certain 
years with a great army and 
with much riches. (Verse 
13.) 



Fulfillment 

up to a licentious life. Thus 
"he was not strengthened 
by it." 

About 14 years later 203 
B. C Antiochus assembled a 
great army, greater than the 
army which was defeated at 
Raphia and turned against 
Egypt. Ptolemy Philopater 
had died and left an infant 
son Ptolemy Epiphanes. 



And in those times there 
shall many stand up against 
the King of the South: also 
the robbers of thy people 
shall exalt themselves to es- 
tablish the vision; but they 
shall fall. (Verse 14.) 



So the King of the North 
shall come, and cast up a 
mount, and take the most 
fenced cities: and the arms 
of the south shall not with- 
stand, neither his chosen 
people, neither shall there be 
any strength to withstand. 
(Verse 15.) 

But he that cometh against 
him shall do according to his 



Antiochus had for his ally 
Phillip, King of Macedon. 
Also in Egypt many rebels 
stood up. And then there 
were, as we read in Josephus, 
wicked Jews, who helped 
Antiochus. These " robbers 
of thy people" established 
the vision. They helped 
along the very things which 
had been predicted, as to 
trials for them. 

All this was fulfilled in the 
severe struggles, which fol- 
lowed. 



The invasion of the glori- 
ous land by Antiochus fol- 



172 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

own will, and none shall 
stand before him: and he 
shall stand in the glorious 
land, which by his hand shall 
be consumed. (Verse 16.) 



He shall also set his face 
to enter with the strength of 
his whole kingdom, and an 
agreement shall be made 
with him; thus shall he do: 
and he shall give him the 
daughter of women, corrupt- 
ing her: but she shall not 
stand on his side, neither be 
for him. (Verse 17.) 



After this shall he turn 
his face unto the isles, and 
shall take many : but a prince 
(literally: Captain) for his 
own behalf shall cause the 
reproach offered by him to 
cease; without his own re- 
proach he shall cause it to 
turned upon him. (Verse 
18.) 

Then he shall turn his face 
toward the fort of his own 
land: but he shall stumble 
and fall, and not be found. 
(Verse 19.) 



Fulfillment 

lowed. He subjected the 
whole land unto himself. 
He also was well disposed 
towards the Tews because 
they sided with Antiochus 
the Great against Ptolemy 
Epiphanes. 

This brings us to the years 
198-195 b. c. Antiochus 
aimed to get full possession 
of Egypt. An agreement 
was made. In this treaty 
between Antiochus and Pto- 
lemy Epiphanes, Cleopatra, 
daughter of Antiochus was 
espoused to Ptolemy. Why 
is Cleopatro called "daugh- 
ter of women?" Because 
she was very young and was 
under the care of her mother 
and grandmother. The treaty 
failed. 

A few years later Antio- 
chus conquered isles on the 
coast of Asia Minor. 

The captain predicted is 
Scipio Asiaticus. Antiochus 
had reproached the Romans 
by his acts and he was de- 
feated. This defeat took 
place at Magnesia 190 b. c. 

Antiochus returns to his 
own land. He came to a 
miserable end trying to 
plunder the temple of Belus 
in Elymais. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



173 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

Then shall stand up in his 
estate a raiser of taxes in 
the glory of the kingdom: 
but within few days he shall 
be destroyed, neither in 
anger, nor in battle. (Verse 
20.) 



And in his estate shall 
stand up a vile person, to 
whom they shall not give the 
honour of the kingdom : but 
he shall come in peaceably, 
and obtain the kingdom by 
flatteries. (Verse 21.) 



And with the arms of a 
flood shall they be overflown 
from before him, and shall 
be broken; yea, also the 
prince of the covenant. 
(Verse 22.) 

And after the league made 
with him he shall work de- 
ceitfully: for he shall come 
up, and shall become strong 
with a small people. (Verse 
23) 

He shall enter peaceably 
even upon the fattest places 
of the province ; and he shall 
do that which his fathers 
have not done, nor his 



Fulfillment 

This is Seleucus Philo- 
pater b> C. 187-176. He was 
known as a raiser of taxes. 
He had an evil reputation 
with the Jews because he 
was such an exactor among 
them. His tax-collector 
Heliodorus poisoned him 
and so he was slain "neither 
in anger, nor in battle." 

This vile person is none 
other than Antiochus Epiph- 
anes. He had no claim on 
royal dignities being only a 
younger son of Antiochus 
the Great. He seized royal 
honors by trickery and with 
flatteries. He is the little 
horn of Chapter viii. 

He was successful in de- 
feating his enemies. The 
prince of the covenant may 
mean his nephew Ptolemy 
Philometor. He also van- 
quished Philometor's gen- 
erals. 

He feigned friendship to 
young Ptolemy but worked 
deceitfully. To allay suspi- 
cion he came against Egypt 
with a small force but took 
Egypt as far as Memphis. 

He took possession of the 
fertile places in Egypt under 
the pretense of peace. He 
took Pelusium and laid siege 
to the fortified places Nau- 



174 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

father's fathers; he shall 
scatter among them the prey, 
and spoil, and riches: yea, 
and he shall forecast his de- 
vices against the strong 
holds, even for a time. 
(Verse 24.) 

And he shall stir up his 
power and his courage 
against the King of the 
South with a great army; 
and the King of the South 
shall be stirred up to battle 
with a very great and mighty 
army; but he shall not 
stand : for they shall fore- 
cast devices against him. 
(Verse 25.) 

Yea, they that feed of the 
portion of his meat shall 
destroy him, and his army 
shall overflow: and many 
shall fall down slain. 
(Verse 26.) 

And both these kings' 
hearts shall be to do mis- 
chief, and they shall speak 
lies at one table; but it shall 
not prosper: for yet the end 
shall be at the time ap- 
pointed. (Verse 27.) 



Then shall he return into 
his land with great riches; 
and his heart shall be against 
the holy covenant; and he 



Fulfillment 

cratis and Alexandria. 



This King of the South is 
Ptolemy Physcon, who was 
made king after Philometor 
had fallen into the hands of 
Antiochus. He had a great 
army but did not succeed be- 
cause treason had broken 
out in his own camp. 



Additional actions of An- 
tiochus and warfare, in 
which he was successful, fol- 
lowed. 



The two kings are Antio- 
chus Epiphanes and his as- 
sociate Philometor. They 
made an alliance against 
Ptolemy Euergetes II also 
called Physcon. But they 
spoke lies against each other 
and did not succeed in their 
plans. 

In 168 b. c. he returned 
from his expedition and had 
great riches. Then he 
marched through Judea and 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



175 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 

shall do exploits, and return 
to his own land. (Verse 28.) 



At the time appointed he 
shall return, and come to- 
ward the south; but it shall 
not be as the former, or as 
the latter. (Verse 29.) 

For the ships of Chittim 
shall come against him : 
therefore he shall be grieved, 
and return, and have in- 
dignation against the holy- 
covenant: so shall he do; he 
shall even return, and have 
intelligence with them that 
forsake the holy covenant. 
(Verse 30.) 



Fulfillment 

did his awful deeds. A re- 
port had come to his ears 
that the Jewish people had 
reported him dead. In the 
first and second book of the 
Maccabees we read of his 
atrocities. Then he retired 
to Antioch. 

He made still another at- 
tempt against the south. 
However he had not the 
former success. 

The ships of Chittim are 
the Roman fleet. When 
within a few miles of Alex- 
andria he heard that ships 
had arrived. He went to 
salute them. They delivered 
to him the letters of the sen- 
ate, in which he was com- 
manded, on pain of the dis- 
pleasure of the Roman peo- 
ple, to put an end to the war 
against his nephews. Antio- 
chus said, " he would go and 
consult his friends ; " on 
which Popilius, one of the 
legates, took his staff, and 
instantly drew a circle round 
Antiochus on the sand, where 
he stood; and commanded 
him not to pass that circle, 
till he had given a definite 
answer. As a grieved and 
defeated man he returned 
and then he fell upon Judea 



176 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



Prophecy Given B.C. 534 



And arms shall stand on 
his part and they shall 
pollute the sanctuary of 
strength, and shall take 
away the daily sacrifice, and 
they shall place the abomina- 
tion that maketh desolate. 
(Verse 31.) 



And such as do wickedly 
against the covenant shall he 
corrupt by flatteries : but the 
people that do know their 
God shall be strong, and do 
exploits. 

And they that understand 
among the people shall in- 
struct many: yet they shall 
fall by the sword, and by 



Fulfillment 

once more to commit addi- 
tional wickedness. Apostate 
Jews sided with him. 

This brings us to the 
climax of the horrors under 
Antiochus Epiphanes. The 
previous record of it is con- 
tained in Chapter viii. He 
sent Apollonius with over 
20,000 men to destroy Jeru- 
salem. Multitudes were 
slain and women and chil- 
dren led away as captives. 
He issued a command that 
all people must conform to 
the idolatry of Greece. A 
wicked Grecian was sent to 
enforce the word of Antio- 
chus. All sacrifices ceased 
and the God-given cere- 
monials of Judaism came to 
an end. The temple was pol- 
luted by the sacrifices of 
swine's flesh. The temple 
was dedicated to Jupiter 
Olympius. Thus the predic- 
tion was fulfilled. 

These verses describe the 
condition among the Jewish 
people. There were two 
classes. Those who do wick- 
edly against the covenant, 
the apostate and those who 
know God, a faithful rem- 
nant. The apostates sided 
with the enemy and the peo- 
ple who know God were 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 177 

Prophecy Given B.C. 534 Fulfillment 

flame, by captivity, and by strong. This has reference 
spoil, many days. to the noble Maccabees. 

Now when they shall fall, There was also suffering and 
they shall be holpen with a persecution, 
little help: but many shall 
cleave to them with flatteries. 

And some of them of un- 
derstanding shall fall, to try 
them, and to purge, and to 
make them white, even to 
the time of the end : because 
it is yet for a time appointed. 
(Verses 32-35-) 

What a most remarkable evidence we have here 
before us of the fact of prophecy! Only God can 
write history in advance in the way it is done here. 
At the same time it is evident that the power behind 
the men,, who boast of learning and who can side 
with the arguments of a pagan like Porphyry, is 
the spirit of darkness. Inasmuch as it is proven 
beyond any doubt that this chapter was written 
and was in existence before any of these events 
took place, it must be a wilful unbelief, which 
rejects the wonderful evidence of revelation. 
We fear much of the present day destructive criti- 
cism is nothing less than that. How wonderfully 
has God fulfilled His Word! How literally every- 
thing has come to pass. And, dear reader, God 
will soon fulfill the great prophecies, which are still 
unfulfilled. The next number on His programme 
will be, when His blessed Son, our Lord Jesus 
Christ, comes into the air, and when all His Saints 
together with those who have died in Christ will 



178 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

be caught up in clouds to meet Him in the air. And 
after that the great judgments will sweep over the 
earth and wrath will be poured out. 

Before we pass on we desire to say again that 
all in these verses we have briefly followed has been 
historically fulfilled. We point out a mistake in 
which some have fallen. In verse 31 we read of 
" the abomination that maketh desolate." Our 
Lord in His Olivet discourse (Matthew xxiv. 15) 
said : " When ye therefore shall see the abomination 
of desolation, spoken by Daniel the prophet, 
stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him 
understand)." Some believe that when our Lord 
spoke these words he referred to Daniel xi. 31 and 
that this is the abomination of desolation. This is not 
quite correct. The abomination that maketh deso- 
late of verse 31 is past and happened in the days 
of the atrocities committed by Antiochus Epiphanes. 
The abomination of desolation to which our Lord 
refers is mentioned in chapter xii. 11 and it points, 
as we shall find later, to the abomination set up by 
the Antichrist, the second beast, in the middle of 
the week. The typical meaning of Antiochus 
Epiphanes and his crimes in the land of Judea and 
against Jerusalem, we have already learned in con- 
nection with chapter viii. 

The Time of the End Introduced. From chapter 
x. 14 we learned that Daniel was to understand by 
this final prophecy what should befall his people 
in the latter days. Now if such is the case then 
there must be a break somewhere in this eleventh 
chapter where the predicted events, which have 



JHE PROPHET DANIEL 179 

found their fulfillment cease and where we are 
led into the future days, the time of the end. This 
break occurs at verse 35. We have seen that the 
predictions in verses 2-35 have all been fulfilled. 
However Antiochus Epiphanes with his wicked 
deeds is typical of that final King of the North, 
when greater persecution and tribulation will sweep 
over Israel's land, in the time of the end. Now it 
is very clear that verse 35 introduces this time of the 
end. " And some of them of understanding shall 
fall, to try them and to purge, and to make them 
white, even to the time of the end ; because it is yet 
for the time appointed." The last chapter in Daniel 
which is wholly taken up with the time of the end, 
the last 3^2 years of the seventieth week has a 
similar statement, which reminds us of verses 32-35 
in chapter xi. " Many shall be purified and made 
white, and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly, 
and none of the wicked shall understand, but the 
wise shall understand." Therefore with verse 35 
our attention is called to that time of the end and 
with the verse which follows we are transported at 
once into that time. Between verse 35 and 36 we 
must put a long, unreckoned period of time. Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes and the victorious Maccabees end 
the historical fulfillment of the predictions of this 
great prophecy and since then over 2000 years have 
passed and the fulfillment of verses 36-45 has not 
yet come. It corresponds somewhat to the similar 
gap (which is of course of less duration) between 
the 69th and the beginning of the 70th week. 
While there is no difficulty to prove the historical 



180 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

fufillment of verses 2-35 it is impossible to locate 
anything in history which corresponds to verses 
36-45. This in itself is noteworthy and an evidence 
that these closing verses of our chapter await a 
future fulfillment. Some have tried to make the 
King, who is first described, to be Antiochus Epiph- 
anes, but the description does not fit him at all. 

The King, who is to Come. Here in the fore- 
ground of the time of the end is a prediction of a 
wicked king, a most interesting and important 
prophecy, which differs materially from the pre- 
dictions about the little horn in chapter vii. and 
the other little horn in chapter viii. This King has 
been identified with both, the head of the Roman 
world power and with the King of the North. We 
shall find that he is an entirely different one, indeed 
he has not yet been mentioned in this book before. 



And the king shall do according to his will : and he 
shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every 
god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God 
of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accom- 
plished: for that that is determined shall be done. 
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the 
desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall 
magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he 
honour the God of forces : and a god whom his fathers 
knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with 
precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do 
in the most strong holds with a strange god, whoso 
acknowledges him will he increase with glory: and he 
shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide 
the land for a reward (verses 36-39). 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 181 

Many expositors of Daniel apply this passage to 
Antiochus Epiphanes, because they see not the im- 
portant interval which exists between verse 35 and 
36. However a closer examination of the descrip- 
tion of this King shows that he cannot be Antiochus. 
He is another person altogether and as we shall see 
later will be a Jew and assume Kingly honors in 
the midst of the Jewish people. Antiochus was a 
Gentile. Others again identify this King with the 
first beast in Revelation xiii. and say that 1 the head 
of the revived Roman Empire, one like Napoleon 
I. is meant while others see here a reference to the 
pope in Rome. And whether the head of the Roman 
power, or the pope, or perhaps Mohammed, the 
term Antichrist is freely applied to each. Those 
who see the Papacy here and the Romish corrup- 
tion make some startling applications which are 
extremely fanciful. We insert here by way of 
illustration what Adam Clark says on part of this 
passage. Others have followed in the same foot- 
steps. On the description that the King shall not 
regard the desire of women the statement is made 
as follows: 

" Both the Greek and Latin church in their Anti- 
christian enactments, have discouraged, and in 
several cases proscribed, marriage, under the pre- 
tence of greater chastity, to the discredit of God's 
ordinance, and Christianity itself. 

Nor regard any god. For the mandates and de- 
crees of that church have been often in defiance of 
God and His word ; for it has magnified itself above 



182 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

all power and authority in heaven and on earth. It 
professes to hold the keys, and to open and shut 
heaven at pleasure, both to states and individuals. 

Shall he honour the god of forces which is 
mduzzim, or gods protectors, as in the Margin; 
worshipping saints and angels, as guardians and 
protectors, and mediators; leaving out, in general, 
the true God, and the only Mediator, Jesus Christ. 

And a god whom his fathers knew not for these 
gods guardians, the Virgin Mary, saints, and angels, 
were utterly unknown, as mediators and invocable 
guardians, in the primitive apostolic church. 

Shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with 
precious stones. How literally does this apply to 
the church of Rome ! See the house of our lady at 
Loretto ; the shrines of saints ; the decorated images, 
costly apparel, gold jewels, etc., profusely used 
about images of saints, angels, and the blessed 
virgin, in different Popish churches. This super- 
stition began to prevail in the fourth century; and 
was established in 787, by the seventh general 
council, for in that the worship of images was 
enacted." 

But enough of this. If these commentators had 
only reckoned with the fact that this King is to 
come in the time of the end and be manifested in the 
land of Palestine in the midst of Daniel's people 
(the Jews) they would have escaped such far- 
fetched interpretations. 

Others, as already stated, identify this King with 
the little horn in Daniel vii. and also with that other. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



183 



little horn in chapter viii. To show that the King 
described in xi. 36-39 is a different person we shall 
put the records concerning these three persons be- 
fore us once more. 



The Little Horn 

Daniel vii. 25. 

Comes forth out of the ten 
horns of the Fourth Beast. 
(Roman Empire.) The Head 
of the restored Roman 
Power. 

He shall speak great words 
against the Most High — 

Shall wear out the Saints 
of the Most High. 

Think to change times and 
Laws. 

These shall be given into 
his hands — 

For 2,y 2 years. 

He is "the Prince that 
shall come." Dan. ix. 26. 

Makes a covenant with the 
many. 

Covenant broken in the 
midst of the week. 



The Little Horn 

Daniel viii. 9-12. 

Arises out of a division of 
the Third Kingdom— the 
Grecian Empire. 

Antiochus Epiphanes pre- 
dicted. 

The type of the King of 
the North. 

He understands dark sen- 
tences. 

His power shall be mighty 
but not by his own power. 

Shall destroy wonderfully. 

Shall practice and prosper. 

Destroy the mighty and 
holy people. 

He shall magnify himself 
in his heart and by peace 
destroy many. 

He shall stand up against 
the Prince of princes. 

He shall be broken with- 
out hand. 

He is the desolator — the 
King of the North — the As- 
syrian of the time of the 
end. 



184 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 



The Wilful King 
Daniel xi, 36-39. 

Nothing is said about the 
origin of this king. 

He does not arise from 
the Gentiles at all; therefore 
he must be a Jew. 

He shall do according to 
his will. 

He shall exalt himself. 

Magnify himself above 
every God. 

Shall speak marvellous 
things against the God of 
gods. 

He prospers till the in- 
dignation is past. 



He does not regard the 
God of His fathers (the 
Jews). 

Nor the desire of women. 

Nor regard any god. 

He shall magnify himself 
above all. 

He shall honor the god of 
forces. 

A god whom his fathers 
know not he shall honor 
with gold, etc. 

Whoso acknowledges him 
will he increase with glory. 

He shall cause them to 
rule over the many. 

He shall divide the land 
for reward. 



A close comparison of the origin of these three 
wicked persons and what they do during the time 
of the end, the last end of the indignation proves 
conclusively that they cannot be one person, 
or two, but they are three distinct persons. Who 
then is the King, who is described in chapter xi. 
36 as coming up as the wilful king in the time of 
the end? 

The Wilful King is the Antichrist. The Jewish 
people rejected their King, the Messiah, who came 
to His own, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord told 
the Jews " I am come in my Father's name, and ye 
receive me not; if another shall come in his own 
name, him ye will receive." (John v. 43). This 
other one has not yet come. We have his photo- 
graph here. He appears in Israel's land in the time 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 185 

of the end as a counterfeit Messiah and takes also 
the place of King in their midst. This wilful King 
the personal Antichrist, who deceives the apostate 
mass of the Jewish people is repeatedly mentioned in 
the Old Testament prophetic Word. Isaiah speaks of 
him and his end (Isaiah xxx. 33 ; lvii. 9). Zechariah 
calls him "the idol shepherd" (Zech. xi. 15-17). 
He is repeatedly mentioned in the Psalms as " the 
wicked man " — " the man of the earth " — " the 
bloody and deceitful man." In the Book of Revela- 
tion he appears as the second beast out of the land 
(Palestine) Revel, xiii. 11-17. The two horns like a 
lamb as he is described there show clearly 
that he imitates Christ. He has the spirit of the 
dragon and appears as a religious leader, for this 
reason he is also called " the false prophet " in 
the Book of Revelation (chapters xvi. 13 ; xix. 20 ; 
xx. 10). 

In the New Testament he is called in the writings 
of John "the Antichrist." See 1 John ii. 18-22; 
iv. 3 ; 2 John 7. Another great prophecy of the same 
person is found in 2 Thessel. ii. where he is called 
" the man of sin, the son of predition." The early 
church believed that this evil person will be a real 
man, a Jew and be energized by Satan. That he is 
the papal system or something else was invented 
later. 

A question may arise here in the mind of the 
reader. The passage in Daniel has to do exclu- 
sively with Daniel's people. The wilful King is to 
arise in their midst and do his dreadful work in the 
land of Israel. How is it that he is also predicted to 



i86 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

be the deceiver of Christendom? What has he to 
do with Gentile Christendom if he is to be the false 
Messiah — King of the Jews? The answer is very 
simple. As the time of the end approaches a wide- 
spread apostasy from God and His Word will be- 
come universal. It will be as pronounced among 
the Jews as it will be in nominal Christendom. Be- 
fore it can come to its full head the true church, 
composed of all who are the Lord's, will be removed 
from this earth. The great mass of unsaved nominal 
Christians will be left behind. Then Jewish and 
Christian Apostasy will coalesce and center in that 
one person. For the apostate Jewish masses, re- 
stored in unbelief to their land, he will be the false 
Messiah-king; for the apostate Christian masses, he 
will be the Antichrist. Even to-day we see how re- 
formed Jews and liberal Christians, the adherents 
of the " New Theology " make common cause and 
can meet together in what they call " worship." It 
is worship, not true worship but the Cain-cult. 
The whole apostate mass of humanity, Jews and 
Gentiles, will receive this wilful King. The Jews, 
with the exception of the believing remnant, will hail 
him as their Messiah-King and the Gentiles, those 
who received not the love of the truth, will accept 
the strong delusion, the lying signs and wonders, 
which this man of sin will do. 

A Brief Analysis of His Person, Character and 
Work. We can give only a few hints in connection 
with the divinely given photograph of this wicked 
one. He is called the King who " shall do accord- 
ing to his own will." He will be self-willed, which 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 187 

means that in wilfullness he will go as the 
man of sin the full length of opposition against 
God and let sin work in him to the uttermost 
extent. 

In 1 Tim. iii. 6 we read that the crime of the 
devil is pride. This wilful King is the devil's man 
and Satan's character is fully developed in him. 
His character will be self-exaltation. First in self- 
will he exalts himself and then against God himself. 
In this self-exaltation and exaltation above God, he 
will prosper till the indignation is accomplished, 
till the Lord comes and slays him with the breath of 
his lips and the brightness of His coming. Here we 
may consult 2 Thess. ii. Of the man of sin, this wilful 
King, Paul writes : " who opposeth and exalteth him- 
self above all that is called God, showing himself that 
he is God." Because the temple of God is mentioned 
here and that temple has erroneously been inter- 
preted as meaning the church, many hold that it 
means popery. But the temple is the Jewish temple 
in Jerusalem. Now the Jews do not possess a 
temple. During the last seven years, the final 
prophetic week, when the prince of the Roman 
power makes a covenant with the Jews, they will 
build a temple in Jerusalem. In the middle of the 
week this wilful King will come and take his seat 
in that temple and claim divine worship. Then 
Satan will be working in great power, signs and 
lying wonders. This wilful King deceives them 
that dwell on the earth (Rev. xiii. 14) by the means 
of those miracles. Apostate Jews and Gentiles will 
believe the lie, and thus hasten on to the judgment 



188 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

which is prepared for them when God's true King 
appears out of the opened heavens. 

The King, Antichrist, shall not regard the God 
of his fathers. Here his Jewish descent becomes 
evident. It is a Jewish phrase " the God of his 
fathers " and besides this, to establish his fraudu- 
lent claim to be the King Messiah, he must be a 
Jew. Else the Jews would not own him as such. 
Still more interesting is the statement " he shall 
not regard the desire of women." The Lord Jesus 
Christ is here in view. Pious Jewish women in 
Pre-messianic times had one great desire, they 
wanted to be mothers, with a view to Him, who is 
the promised seed of the woman. His birth was 
desired by these godly mothers of Israel. This 
King then hates God and hates His blessed Son, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. " Who is a liar but he that 
denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is the Anti- 
christ, that denieth the Father and the Son" (1 
John ii. 22). 

Verse 38 speaks of another whom he will honor. 
It is strange that so very few teachers have con- 
nected this verse with what is spoken of the Anti- 
christ in Revel, xiii. 11-17. The one whom he will 
honor is none other than the first beast, the little 
horn. The two will work together and the Anti- 
christ will have an image made of the first beast, the 
little horn. Perhaps that image will be of gold, sil- 
ver and precious stones, mentioned in verse 38. 
That image is to be worshipped and whosoever re- 
fuses to do so will be killed. Then the great trib- 
ulation will sweep through the city and the land 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 189 

with all its satanic horrors. The little horn, the 
Prince over the Roman Empire, will work corre- 
sponding atrocities in his Gentile domain. 

Another statement we must explain. " Whoso 
acknowledges him will he increase with Glory ; and 
he shall cause them to rule over many and shall 
divide the land for glory." He imitates in this the 
true Christ. He anticipates (as Satan always does) 
what the coming King will do. 

When the Lord comes His own faithful people 
will receive their rewards. This is not only the 
teaching of the New Testament but also that of 
the Old. " Behold His reward is with Him " (Isaiah 
xl. 10). " Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold 
thy salvation cometh, behold His reward is with 
Him and His work before Him" (Isaiah lxii. 11). 
" Thy people also shall be righteous, they shall in- 
herit the land forever " (Isaiah lx. 21). Other pass- 
ages could be quoted. When Israel's true King, 
the Lord Jesus Christ appears, he will give Glory 
to His land and to the faithful remnant of His 
people. He will give them dominion over many, 
over the nations and He will divide the land for 
faithful service. We speak here exclusively of the 
faithful remnant of Israel. The church has her re- 
ward over the earth. 

When the counterfeit of Satan, the false Messiah, 
the Antichrist is in the land, he will imitate the 
coming King in these matters of reward. Those 
who acknowledge him and are true to this dread- 
ful being, he will give them earthly glory and 
dominion and divide the land for reward. But it 



190 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

will not last long. The King of the North sweeps 
into the land and antagonizes the doings of the 
Antichrist and then God's appointed King will ap- 
pear and be enthroned upon the holy hill of Zion. 

Why is Antichrist Mentioned only once in Daniel? 
But if this false King is so prominent then in Jeru- 
salem how is it that we have but one description 
of him in the prophecies of this book? The promi- 
nence of this wilful King in connection with the 
Jews has led many teachers to identify him with 
Antiochus Epiphanes. But there is a good reason 
why the Antichrist is mentioned but once and that 
at the end of the book of Daniel. The book of 
Daniel is chiefly occupied with the times of the 
Gentiles and how they will end. The Gentile 
enemies of His people are therefore accorded the 
leading place, as we have seen, the coming Prince 
out of the Roman world and the King of the North 
are Gentiles. The Antichrist arising out of the 
people themselves is mentioned last. 

A Practical Word. Plow near all these events 
are to our times ! We see the shadow of both, the 
coming Prince, the first beast, and the Antichrist 
in our times. The Gentile nations await a great 
political leader. Religiously the apostates in Juda- 
ism and Christendom are ready to receive their 
man and follow him. How true the Word of God 
given through John applies to our times. " Little 
children it is the last time, and as ye have heard 
that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many 
Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last 
time" (1 John ii. 18). Many Antichrists were al- 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 191 

ready present in the days ot the Apostle John. The 
great Gnostic movement with its intellectual philo- 
sophical denials of the Person and work of Christ 
was troubling the church as well as other move- 
ments. But as the age has gone on all has become 
more pronounced and as never before there are 
many Antichrists, whereby we know that the Anti- 
christ is near. As never before the Antichristian ele- 
ments are gathering in systems and movements 
which gain in strength. Higher criticism is Anti- 
christian, it may well be called the forerunner of 
all antichristian teachings. To the many Anti- 
christs in our day belongs the " Christian Science " 
movement (a revival in a powerful way of the 
Gnosticism of John's day), the Millennial Dawn 
system (the most subtle Antichristianity), Spiritism, 
demon power revealed, The New Theology, the 
bloodless, Christless Gospel, the Theosophical move- 
ment; we also mention Bahaism, Mormonism, Re- 
formed Judaism, New Thought and a number of 
other " isms." Of course the Romish " church," the 
mother of harlots, is in the foreground and will ere 
long take a very prominent part in the religious 
affairs of drifting Christendom. 

These system are the harbingers of the final, 
personal Antichrist. He cannot be far away. Be- 
loved readers! while Satan is gathering his forces 
and preparing the material for the final struggle, 
we must as God's people live in separation from 
these evil things and keep close to our ever blessed 
Lord. God's call to us now is separation. May He 
help all those who name that worthy Name to be 



192 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

separated from every form of Antichristianity. We 
too shall be against Christ if we are not out and out 
for Him. Let us give Him in all things the Pre- 
eminence. 

The Conflicts at the Time of the End. And now 
the phrase " the time of the end " is introduced once 
more. The verses which follow the description of 
the willful King are the conflicts, which will take 
place in Palestine during the last half of the seven- 
tieth week and which will terminate with the com- 
ing of the King. 

And at the time of the end shall the king of the 
south push at him: and the king of the north shall 
come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and 
with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall 
enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass 
over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and 
many countries shall be overthrown : but these shall es- 
cape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the 
chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth 
his hand also upon the countries : and the land of Egypt 
shall not escape. But he shall have power over the 
treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the 
precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the 
Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the 
east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore 
he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly 
to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles 
of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy 
mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none 
shall help him (verses 40-45.) 

In verse 39 we read that the Antichrist acting as 
the false King will divide the land, which is Im^ 
manuel's land. At that time two kings will push 
at him and threaten the Antichrist. The King of 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 193 

the South and the King of the North appear now 
upon the scene. Their doings were foreshadowed 
in the Kings of the South and North in the first 
part of this chapter. The King of the South, stirred 
up by the arrogant doings of the false King in 
Israel's land, comes first. Who is the King of the 
South? A King which rises out of Egypt. It 
would be a mistake if we were here to leave the 
path of expounding prophecy and make a guess at 
who this King might be. Not a few instead of 
explaining prophetic revelations have turned proph- 
ets themselves. This proved in every case to be 
simple guesswork and often harmful to the study 
of the Word. This King of the South however will 
have not much success with his operations. The 
prominent person is his antagonist, the King of the 
North. He is, as we have seen, the King with the 
fierce countenance, typified by Antiochus Epiphanes, 
the little horn of chapter viii. the Assyrian of the 
time of the end. He is now stirred up by what the 
Antichrist is doing in the land. He comes like a 
whirlwind with chariots and horsemen and with 
many ships. His mighty army, their large numbers 
and orderly march as well as their destructive work 
is vividly described in Joel's prophecy (chapter ii.). 
" He shall enter into the glorious land." As the 
desolator he comes now against Jerusalem. He 
also conquers other countries. Edom, Moab, and 
the children of Ammon only escape.* But from 

*It is often stated that these countries are now no longer 
flourishing. Their territory still exists and people live there. 
At the time of the end all these countries come up again. 



194 THE PROPHET DANIEL 1 

Isaiah xi. 14 we learn that restored Israel will lay 
their hand upon these, which escaped the devasta- 
tion of the King of the North and be forced into 
obedience. And Egypt will not escape his hand. 
He will have power over the treasures of gold and 
silver which are stored up in that land and even the 
Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 
When he is in the South certain tidings reach him ; 
they come from the East and out of the North and 
they trouble him. What these tidings are we are 
not told. We need therefore not speculate what 
these tidings will be. But this is certain that the 
tidings are connected with the Jewish people and 
the events, which transpire in their land. With 
great fury he now turns back to the land. His great 
aim is to destroy and to make away with many. 
The climax then is reached. " He shall plant the 
tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the 
glorious holy mountain, yet he shall come to his end, 
and none shall help him." Then shall the Lord go 
forth and fight against those nations (associated 
with the King of the North), as when he fought in 
the day of battle (Zech, xiv. 3). The interference 
will be by the personal, visible manifestation of the 
Lord, for " His feet shall stand in that day upon 
the Mount of Olives" (Zech. xiv. 5). Thus the 
King of the North will be broken " without hands " 
(Dan. viii. 25) and " that determined shall be 
poured upon the desolator " (chapter ix. 27). The 
overthrow of the past Assyrian Sennacherib and 
his army of 185,000 men was a faint type of the end 
of the last Assyrian, the King of the North. Great 



[THE PROPHET DANIEL 195 

.will be the slaughter on the battlefield before Jeru- 
salem. Then too the delivered remnant of the peo- 
ple Israel will go forth and share in that victory 
" they will gather together, gold and silver and 
apparel in great abundance " (Zech. xiv. 14). 
Pages upon pages might be filled with further 
scriptures and their explanations relating to this 
final great conflict, as well as that which happens 
to the western power. 

One question remains. While the King of the 
North and his proud hosts are thus overthrown 
by the Army of the Lord, what becomes of the will- 
ful King, the Antichrist in the City? The King of 
the North cannot touch him. But the Lord Him- 
self will deal with that wicked one. " Whom the 
Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, 
and shall destroy with the brightness of His com- 
ing" (2 Thess. ii. 8). Thus ends the great conflict 
of the time of the end. The eternal abode of the 
satanic instruments of the time of the end, the 
beast, that coming Prince, the Antichrist and the 
King of the North will be the lake of fire. May 
we praise God that in His infinite Grace He has 
delivered us from so great a death. 



CHAPTER XII 

The End of the Prophecy. The Great Tribulation 
and Israel's Deliverance. The Epilogue 

How closely this chapter is connected with the 
events, which we have just left in the closing verses 
of chapter xi. is seen by the first words with which 
the final chapter in Daniel starts in. " And at that 
time." What time? The time when the willful 
King domineers over the Jews and commits his 
evil deeds in Jerusalem and when the King of the 
North has entered the glorious land. 

The Time of Trouble and Israel's Deliverance. 
This is the subject of the first two verses. 

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great 
prince which standeth for the children of thy people: 
and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was 
since there was a nation even to that same time: and 
at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one 
that shall be delivered, every one that shall be found 
written in the book. And many of them that sleep in 
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting 
life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And 
they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness 
as the stars for ever and ever (verses 1-3). 
196 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 197 

Important prophetic truths are here brought into 
view. As stated above it relates altogether to the 
time of the end, the last Zy 2 years. The informa- 
tion is now given that this time will be for Daniel's 
people " a time of trouble, such as never was since 
there was a nation even to that same time." And 
this statement is repeated by our Lord in Matthew 
xxiv. in that part of His Olivet discourse, which 
relates to the Jewish people and contains His 
prophecy touching the seventieth week. Then our 
Lord saith " then shall be great tribulation, such 
as was not since the beginning of the world to this 
time, no, nor ever shall be " (Matthew xxii. 21). In 
verse 15 of the same chapter our Lord mentions 
Daniel and the abomination of desolation. This 
according to our Lord's words introduces the time 
of trouble, the great tribulation, the time of the end. 
What harmony is here ! And still more signifi- 
cant it is that in Daniel xii. this abomination is 
mentioned (see verse 11). Now there are such who 
teach that all our Lord said in Matthew xxiv. speaks 
exclusively of what happened to Jerusalem in the 
year 70. In fact this is the general interpretation of 
our Lord's discourse. But it is completely dis- 
proven by the twelfth chapter in Daniel. As we 
shall see with the time of trouble there is associated 
the deliverance of Daniel's people and their restora- 
tion. Now were the Jews delivered and restored 
in the year 70 when the Romans took the city? 
No. As we saw from chapter ix. the city and sanct- 
uary were destroyed. The nation itself was scat- 
tered. 



198 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

But there is also another erroneous view taught. 
It is claimed that the church is to be on earth during 
that time of trouble. Thus the church is read into 
the xxiv. chapter of Matthew. But the time of 
trouble is not for the church, but for Daniel's people. 
To put the church into the time of the end is a 
teaching, which works confusion. When the seven- 
tieth week begins, the true church has left the earth. 

Michael, the great prince which standeth for the 
Jewish people, is now also mentioned again. He 
will stand up and take a leading part in the events 
of that time. From the Book of Revelation we 
learn (chapter xii.) that there will be war in heaven, 
that is where Satan has his dominion now as the 
prince of the power of the air. Michael assisted by 
his angels will cast out the great dragon, the devil 
and his angels. They will be forced down to the 
earth. Then when Satan and his angels are cast 
out the great tribulation will be instituted (Rev. 
xii. 12). Michael will stand up in another sense 
and take a definite part in the deliverance of Daniel's 
people. It is not fully revealed what that will be. 

The deliverance of which we read in these verses 
and the awakening of those, " who sleep in the dust 
of the earth " has likewise been grossly misinter- 
preted. Because expositors have not seen the appli- 
cation of all this to the Jews in their future history 
in the land, they have read the church in here and 
even, what they term, a general resurrection on a 
general judgment day. But we shall see now what 
is meant by the deliverance of Daniel's people. 

" At that time thy people shall be delivered every 



[THE PROPHET DANIEL 199 

one that shall be found written in the book." 
Daniel's people are the objects of the deliverance 
in that time of trouble, however there is a further 
description; not all of Daniel's people, but those 
only "that shall be found written in the book." These 
are the godly Jews, the believing remnant of the 
time of the end. For them the Lord will send help 
and they will be saved out of that time of trouble. 
For their sake the days will be shortened. " And 
except those days should be shortened, there should 
no flesh be saved, but for the elects'* sake those days 
shall be shortened" (Matth. xxix. 22). Their de- 
liverance means a deliverance out of the dreadful 
conditions of the time of the end and after their 
faithful endurance to the end (Matthew xxiv. 13) 
they will enter into the Kingdom, which will then 
be established. The great apostate mass of Jews 
will be swept into the judgment and be cut off as 
other Scriptures teach us. " And it shall come to 
pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts 
therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall 
be left therein" (Zech. xiii. 8-9). That third part 
will be carried through the fire, the time of trouble 
and to them the Lord, their King, will say " It is my 
people and they shall say, The Lord is my God." 
The evil doctrine that " all Israel shall be saved " 
(Rom. xi. 26) means not alone the literal salvation 
of all the wicked Jews who have sided with Anti- 
christ, but also all the Jewish generations, which 
continued wilfully in unbelief, is in this passage and 
others as well completely answered. 
* Not the church but the elect remnant. 



200 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Physical resurrection is not taught in the second 
verse of this chapter, if it were the passage would 
be in clash with the revelation concerning resur- 
rection in the New Testament. There is no general 
resurrection, but there will be the first resurrection 
in which only the righteous participate and the 
second resurrection, which means the raising of the 
wicked dead for their eternal and conscious punish- 
ment. Between the two resurrections is a space of 
1000 years (see Revel, xix.). 

We repeat the passage has nothing to do with 
physical resurrection. Physical resurrection is how- 
ever used as a figure of the national revival of 
Israel in that day. They have been sleeping nation- 
ally in the dust of the earth, buried among the 
Gentiles. But at that time there will take place a 
national restoration, a bringing together of the 
house of Judah and of Israel. It is the same figure 
as used in the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel 
xxxvii. This vision is employed by the men, who 
have invented the theory of a second chance and 
larger hope* for the wicked dead to back up their 
evil teaching, but anyone can see that it concerns 
not the Gentiles but the Jewish people and that it is 
not a bodily resurrection, but a national revival and 
restoration of that people. Their national graves, 
not literal burying places, will be opened and the 
Lord will bring them forth out of all the countries 
into which they have been scattered. The same dis- 
tinction holds good, which we have already pointed 
out. The great mass of Jews, who cast their belief 

* Millennial Dawnism especially misapplies this passage. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 201 

in God and His Word to the winds, who accepted 
the man of sin and acknowledged the wicked King, 
will face everlasting contempt, but the remnant 
will possess all things promised to them and become 
the heirs of that Kingdom, which is prepared from 
the foundation of the world. And besides the 
national blessing which they receive, they will be 
in possession of everlasting life, for they are born 
again. 

The wise which are mentioned in verse 3 and 
those who turn the many to righteousness (lit: 
teach righteousness) shall then have their reward. 
These are Jewish witnesses, Jewish teachers, whom 
God's Spirit enlightens in the time of the end and 
who render a great service in the witnessing to the 
truth, most likely the truths concerning the great 
events which take place and the exhortation with 
it to repent and walk in righteousness. They are 
mentioned elsewhere in prophecy. A special reward 
will be theirs in occupying a prominent place in the 
Kingdom indicated by the words " shine as the 
stars forever and ever." 

The reward of the church saints and those who 
bear a testimony now, teaching that better right- 
eousness and declaring the whole counsel of God, 
is not taught here. But we know it will be a far 
greater reward in the heavenly Jerusalem above the 
earth, than the reward in the earthly Kingdom. 
What an incentive this ought to be to be loyal to 
an absent, but soon coming Lord! 

Daniel Addressed. After this prophecy concern- 
ing the time of the end, the great tribulation, the 



202 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

national restoration, the judgment of the apostates 
and the blessings for the faithful part of the nation, 
the Man greatly beloved is addressed in verse 4. 

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the 
book, even to the time of the end : many shall run to 
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 

The sealing of the book means that tor the use 
at that time, the prophecy was like a closed book. 
What a contrast with the Revelation in the New 
Testament, where John the Penman is expressly 
told not to seal the sayings of the prophecy of this 
book, for the time is at hand. To Daniel much was 
unintelligent, his great book was to be sealed, but in 
New Testament times nothing is sealed or shut up. 
The Holy Spirit has come. We have a complete 
revelation. The great New Testament book of 
Prophecy, " the Revelation of Jesus Christ," is an 
unveiling and through its great message we can un- 
derstand, as God in His infinite Grace has permitted 
us in a little measure in these pages, the visions 
and prophecies of Daniel, concerning the time of 
the end. We often hear people say it is no use to 
read Revelation or the Book of Daniel, for these 
are sealed books. Even preachers and Christian 
teachers speak thus. If it is not ignorance, such 
language expresses sheer laziness to turn with dili- 
gence to what God has given and what God is will- 
ing to unfold to our hearts. 

Yet to Daniel's people the Book is still shut up 
and sealed, not to us as Christians. When the time 
of the end comes the wise among them will see and 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 203 

understand. And that will be the time when 
" many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
increased." This is true in a certain sense now and 
is a sign of the times. But the fulfillment comes 
when the time of the end is reached. 

Daniel Beholds Angels. The Man Clothed in 
Linen. Daniel's Question. And now the great 
book draws to its close. It is the epilogue of this 
great Book. 

Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other 
two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and 
the other on that side of the bank of the river. And 
one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon 
the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end 
of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in 
linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when 
he held up his right hand and his left hand unto 
heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever, that it 
shall be for a time, times, and a half and when he 
shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the 
holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I 
heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, 
what shall be the end of these things? And he said, 
Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and 
sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, 
and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do 
wickedly : and none of the wicked shall understand, but 
the wise shall understand (verses 5-10). 

We do not enter fully into these words. The 
river is the same mentioned in the tenth chapter, 
the river Hiddekel. Two angels are there and the 
Man clothed in linen. There can be no doubt that 
the man in linen is the same, who appeared to 



204 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

Daniel in the beginning of this final great vision. 
(Chapter x. 5.) It is the Lord Himself. One of the 
angels addresses a question to Him. " How long 
shall it be to the end of these wonders? " In other 
words, how long shall this time of trouble last. We 
may read here Revel, x. 1-6. 

And I saw another mighty angel come down from 
heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon 
his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his 
feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little 
book open : and he set his right foot upon the sea, and 
his left foot on the earth. And cried with a loud voice, 
as when a lion roareth : and when he had cried, seven 
thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven 
thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write : 
and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal 
up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and 
write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon 
the sea, and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven. 
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who 
created heaven, and the things that therein are, and 
the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, 
and the things which are therein, that there should be 
time no longer. 

Here we have the same person in the form of a 
mighty angel. This mighty angel is an uncreated 
Being and the description and action recorded here 
fit only one and that is our Lord. 

He answers the question Daniel heard asked of 
Him. These things shall last " time, times and a 
half," that is Zy 2 years or 42 months, the duration 
of the great tribulation during which the little horn 
(see Daniel vii. 25) and the Antichrist under Satanic 
power will domineer and the King of the North 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 205 

enters Israel's land. The duration of this great 
trouble is therefore announced once more, and when 
the wicked little horn will be through with his part 
of the work. And Daniel heard all these words and 
he had to add, though all these great things had been 
witnessed by him and he was so near to the Lord, " I 
understood not." All was mystery to him once more. 
How far better is our lot in possessing the com- 
pleted Word of God and the Holy Spirit, who has 
come down from heaven as the indwelling and 
abiding guest, to show us " things to come." 

Then Daniel addresses His Lord. " O my Lord, 
what shall be the end of these things ? " And 
Daniel, the highly favored prophet, receives a loving 
word from the Lord. " Go, thy way, Daniel ; for 
the words are closed up and sealed till the time 
of the end." The tenth verse applies to the time 
of the end and not to our times at all. Two classes 
will then exist, as seen before, among Daniel's 
people. Many, who believe ; these will be purified, 
made white and tried. They will be brought 
through the fire. These will understand in those 
dreadful days. The unbelieving mass will do wick- 
edly and they will be blinded. Similar conditions 
prevail in Christendom. May all, who are the 
Lord's have indeed understanding. Alas ! the great 
mass is blinded by the god of this age and do not 
understand. 

The End of these Things. The 1290 and 1335 
Days. Daniel had received a loving answer from 
the Lord and at the same time his question is an- 
swered. 



206 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be 
taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate 
set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and 
ninety days. Blessed is he who waiteth, and cometh to 
the thousand three hundred and live and thirty days 
(verses 11-12). 

For many readers of Daniel these words have 
been very puzzling. One might truly say, that the 
expositors whose commentaries are mostly used 
have only darkened this final word addressed to 
Daniel. One of these wrote in 1825 the following: 

" Adrian's temple, built in the place of God's 
Temple at Jerusalem, the church of St. Sophia 
turned into a Mohammedan mosque, etc., etc., may 
be termed abominations that make desolate. Per- 
haps Mohammedanism may be the abomination; 
which sprang up, A. D. 612. If we reckon one thou- 
sand two hundred and ninety years, ver. 11, from 
that time, it will bring us down to A. D. 1902, when 
we might presume, from this calculation, that the 
religion of the false prophet will cease to prevail in 
the world. Which, from the present year 1825, is 
distant only seventy-seven years." 

But his calculations have proven incorrect. He 
makes the building of the mosques of Moham- 
medanism the abomination. We have seen what 
the abomination is which will happen in Jerusalem 
in the middle of the week, when Antichrist mani- 
fests his full power and the other Beast breaks the 
covenant. Others by not comparing Scripture with 
Scripture and not understanding what " the abomin- 
ation that maketh desolate" is, have given other 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 207 

years as the probable date when the Lord comes. 
.They have all failed. And if others arise, as no 
doubt they will, and make other speculative asser- 
tions concerning the time, they will likewise fail. 

But what is the meaning of these 1290 and 1335 
days ? Can there be anything plainer than the fact 
that these 1290 and 1335 days are literal days? 
Who authorizes us to make of these days years? 
By what process of exposition are we to arrive at 
the conclusion that " days " mean " years ? " It is 
worse than folly to do that. 

Now the great tribulation lasts for 1260 days. 
But here we have 30 days or a whole month added. 
The Lord will be manifested at the close of the 
great tribulation of 1260 days, Zy 2 years. Mat- 
thew xxiv. 29-31 teaches us this. The extra month 
will in all probability be needed to make possible 
certain judgment events especially with the over- 
throw of the nations, which came against Jeru- 
salem and the judgment of nations as given in Mat- 
thew xxv. 31. We cannot speak dogmatically on 
all this. But certain it is that 1335 days after the 
Antichristian abomination had been set up in Jeru- 
salem, that is 75 days, or 1^ months beyond the 
time of the great tribulation, the full blessing for 
Israel and the establishment of the glorious rule of 
Israeli King, the once rejected Lord Jesus Christ, 
will have come, for it is written, " Blessed is he 
that waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three 
hundred and five and thirty days." This is as far as 
any teacher can safely go and here we would rest. 

And Eaniel the man greatly beloved, the loyal 



208 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

servant of God, the faithful Daniel, the blessed 
Daniel, the seer of the greatest visions, next to the 
visions of the beloved disciple John — what about 
Daniel? 

" But go thou thy way till the end be : for thou 
shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the 
days." 

Thrice blessed word! He has entered into his 
rest, the rest of the Saints of the Lord. In that 
blessed day, which may so soon be here, when the 
Lord descends from heaven with a shout and the 
dead in Christ will be raised, Daniel will share in 
that coming Glory. What a glorious lot will be his, 
when the day of Glory comes for all the Saints of 
God! 

Our task is finished. Humbly we lay this little, 
imperfect exposition of the Book of Daniel, at the 
feet of our ever gracious and blessed Lord. May it 
please Him to use what we have written in depend- 
ence upon Himself, to encourage His people in their 
waiting for Himself. The time is near. Never be- 
fore has there been such a need to study the won- 
derful prophecies of Daniel and the corresponding 
prophetic book, the Revelation, as now. A little 
time is left to do so. And may it please God, that 
all His redeemed people may walk in closer fellow- 
ship with the Lord and manifest in their lives the 
Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

THE END 



THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE BOOK OF 
DANIEL 

The following are the more important of the argu- 
ments which evidence the genuineness of the book. 

1. The existence and authority of the book are most 
decidedly testified by the New Testament. Christ 
himself refers to it (Matt. xxiv. 15), and gives him- 
self (in virtue of the expression in Dan. vii. 13) the 
name of Son of Man; while the Apostles repeatedly 
appeal to it as an authority {ex. gr., 1 Cor. vi. 2 ; 2 
Thess. ii. 3; Heb. xi. 33, sq.). To the objection that 
Christ and the writers of the New Testament are here 
no real authority, inasmuch as they accommodate 
themselves to the Jewish notions and views, we reply 
that the genuineness of the book of Daniel is so closely 
connected with the truth of its contents — in other 
words, that the authenticity of the book is so imme- 
diately connected with its authority — that it is im- 
possible to doubt the genuineness, without suspecting 
at the same time a wilful fraud and cheat in its con- 
tents; so that the accommodation in this case to na- 
tional views would be tantamount to wilfully con- 
firming and sanctioning an unpardonable fraud. 

2. The period of the exile would be altogether in- 
comprehensible without the existence of a man like 
Daniel, exercising great influence upon his own people, 
and whose return to Palestine was effected by means 

209 



210 APPENDIX 

of his high station in the state, as well as through the 
peculiar assistance of God with which he was favored. 
Without this assumption, it is impossible to explain 
the continued state of independence of the people of 
God during that period, or to account for the inter- 
est which Cyrus took in their affairs. The exile and 
its termination are indicative of uncommon acts of 
God towards highly-gifted and favored men ; and the 
appearance of such a man as Daniel is described in 
that book to have been, is an indispensable requisite 
for the right understanding of this portion of the 
Jewish history. 

3. An important hint of the existence of the book 
in the time of Alexander is found in Josephus, Antiq., 
xi. 8, 4, according to which the prophecies of Daniel 
had been pointed out to that king on his entrance 
into Jerusalem. It is true that the fact may have 
been somewhat embellished in its details by 
Josephus ; yet is it historically undeniable that Alex- 
ander did bestow great favors on the Jews, a circum- 
stance which is not easily explained without grant- 
ing the fact recorded by Josephus to be true in the 
main. 

4. The first book of the Maccabees, which is al- 
most contemporary with the events related in it, not 
only p re-supposes the existence of the book of Daniel, 
but actually betrays acquaintance with the Alexan- 
drian version of the same ( 1 Mace. i. 54 ; comp. Dan. 
ix. 27; ii. 59; comp. Dan. iii.) — a proof that the book 
must have been written long before that period. 

5. If the book had been written in the Maccabaean 
period, there would probably have been produced in 



APPENDIX 211 

that period some similar prophetic and apocalyptic 
productions, composed by Palestine Jews. Of such, 
however, not the slightest trace can anywhere be 
found ; so that our book — if of the Maccabsean time — 
thus forms an isolated enigmatic phenomenon in the 
later Jewish literature. 

6. The reception of the book into the canon is also 
an evidence of its authenticity. In the Maccabaean 
age the canon had long been completed and closed; 
but even doubting that point, it is not likely that, at 
a time when so much scrupulous adherence was shown 
towards all that was hallowed by time and old usage, 
and when Scriptural literature was already flourish- 
ing — it is not probable, we say, that a production then 
recent should have been raised to the rank of a canoni- 
cal book. 

7. We have an important testimony for the authen- 
ticity of the book in Ezekiel xiv. 14, 20; xxviii. 3. 
Daniel is there represented as an unusual character, 
as a model of justice and wisdom, to whom had been 
allotted superior divine insight and revelation. This 
sketch perfectly agrees with that contained in our 
book. 

8. The book betrays such an intimate acquain- 
tance with Chaldsean manners, customs, history, and 
religion, as none but a contemporary writer could 
fairly be supposed to possess. Thus, ex. gr., the de- 
scription of the Chaldsean magians and their regula- 
tions perfectly agrees with the accounts of the classics 
respecting them. The account of the illness and in- 
sanity of Nebuchadnezzar is confirmed by Berosus 
(in Joseph, c. Afion. i. 20). The edict of Darius 



212 APPENDIX 

the Mede (Dan. v.) may be satisfactorily explained 
from the notions peculiar to the Medo-Persian reli- 
gion, and the importance attached in it to the king, 
who was considered as a sort of incarnate deity. 

9. The religious views, the ardent belief in the 
Messiah, the purity of that belief, the absence of all 
the notions and ceremonial practices of later Juda- 
ism, etc., the agreement of the book in these respects 
with the genuine prophetic books, and more especially 
with the prophets in and after the exile, — all this tes- 
tifies to the genuineness of Daniel. 

10. The linguistic character of the book is most 
decisive for its authenticity. In the first instance, the 
language in it, by turns Hebrew and Aramaean, is 
particularly remarkable. In that respect, the book 
bears a close analogy to that of Ezra. The author 
must certainly have been equally conversant with both 
languages — an attainment exactly suited to a Hebrew 
living in exile, but not in the least so to an author in 
the Maccabaean age, when the Hebrew had long since 
ceased to be a living language, and had been sup- 
planted by the Aramaean vernacular dialect. The 
Hebrew in Daniel bears, moreover, a very great affin- 
ity to that in the other later books of the Old Testa- 
ment; and has, in particular, idioms in common with 
Ezekiel. The Aramic, also, in the book differs mate- 
rially from the prevailing dialect of the later Chal- 
daean paraphrastic versions of the Old Testament, and 
has much more relation to the idiom of the book of 
Ezra. — Kitto's Encyclop. 



QUESTIONS ON THE BOOK OF 
DANIEL. 

We suggest to our readers who desire to study the 
book of Daniel in a thorough way that they first read 
through this exposition as they would read any other 
book. Then give it a second careful reading, study- 
ing every chapter in its details. After this is done 
to refresh the memory these questions may be taken 
up. The answers to the questions are found, follow- 
ing this catechism. 

1. What is Prophecy? 

2. What has resulted from the neglected study of 
the prophetic Word ? 

3. Why is the study of Daniel of such importance ? 

4. What does Higher Criticism claim? 

5. Whom do most critics follow in rejecting the 
authenticity of this book? 

6. What is the Highest authority that Daniel wrote 
this book? 

7. Give the Divisions of the Book? 

8. In how many languages is it written? 

9. What is the First Chapter? 

10. Who was chosen to take Jerusalem? 

11. How often did he come against the City? 

12. When did the times of the Gentiles begin? 

13. Give a leading characteristic of the times of 
the Gentiles? 

14. Through whom was the work and calling of the 
King of Babylon announced? 

213 



2i 4 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

15. Is the church mentioned in Daniel and why 
not? 

16. What occasioned the dream of Nebuchadnezzar? 

17. How was the forgotten dream revealed? 

18. What does the phrase "latter days" mean? 

19. How many parts were to the dream image? 

20. What happened to the image? 

21. What does the image represent? 

22. Give a corresponding term of this age found in 
the New Testament? 

23. Give the prophetic meaning of the different 
metals ? 

24. What lesson does it teach? 

25. What is to be the final form of the times of 
the Gentiles? 

26. Has this been reached? 

27. What does the clay represent? 

28. What is to be the end of the times of the 
Gentiles ? 

29. Who is represented by the stone? 

30. Give a N. T. passage which verifies this? 

31. Why is the striking stone not the type of the 
First Coming of Christ? 

32. What has to be before the stone can smite the 
image ? 

33. Could the stone mean the peaceful extension of 
the kingdom? 

34. When does the kingdom come? 

35. How did Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge God? 

36. What happened to Daniel and his companions? 

37. State the typical meaning of Chapters iii-vi? 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 215 

38. Give the dimensions of the image of gold the 
king set up? 

39. According to Revelation will this be repeated? 

40. When and how? 

41. Has the ancient Babylonish worship been re- 
produced on Gentile ground? 

42. Who refused to worship the image? 

43. What does the fiery furnace foreshadow? 

44. Will this be repeated in the end of the age ? 

45. What is reported in Chapter iv ? 

46. What happened to Nebuchadnezzar? 

47. Why was he humbled? 

48. What do the seven times mean? 

49. What is the moral characteristic foreshadowed 
in this chapter? 

50. What is the last record about Nebuchadnezzar? 

51. Who was Belshazzar? 

52. What did the critics claim and how were they 
defeated ? 

53. Why is he called the son of Nebuchadnezzar? 

54. What did Daniel announce in interpreting the 
handwriting on the wall? 

55. When did it happen? 

56. What characteristic is foreshadowed Tin this 
event ? 

57. What decree was made by Darius the Mede? 

58. What position did Daniel receive and what was 
his age? 

59. What does Daniel in the lions' den and his 
deliverance foreshadow ? 

60. What is the characteristic of the sixth chapter? 



216 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

61. Has this been repeated? 

62. Will it find a repetition in the future? 

63. What does Daniel's deliverance also fore- 
shadow ? 

64. Who came then upon the scene? 

65. Who had announced this king a hundred years 
before his birth? 

66. Give the second part of the Book of Daniel. 

67. How many visions does it contain? 

68. How many visions are found in Chapter vii ? 

69. Name them? 

70. What did Daniel see again? 

71. What additional revelation was given to Daniel? 
y2. Who is the Ancient of days? 

73. What judgment is here revealed? 

74. Who is the Son of Man? 

75. When will the kingdom be established? 

76. Who is the little horn? 

yy. What has to happen first before this horn can 
appear ? 

78. Where else is this revealed? 

79. Name the three great actors of the end time? 

80. What will happen to the little horn? 

81. Who will receive the kingdom ? 

82. What vision is found in the eighth chapter? 

83. Who is the Ram? 

84. Name the corresponding characteristics with 
the second beast in Chapter vii ? 

85. Who is the he-goat? 

86. Name the corresponding characteristics with the 
third beast in Chapter vii ? 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 217 

87. Who is the notable horn? 

88. What happened to his empire? 

89. Out of what division did a little horn come 
forth? 

90. Is this little horn the same as in Chapter vii ? 

91. Why not? 

92. What is the fulfillment? 

93. What do the 2 300 days represent? 

94. Is there to be a future fulfillment? 

95. When? 

96. Who is the King with the fierce countenance? 

97. What other portions of Prophecy confirm this? 

98. From where will this King of the North arise? 

99. In what other chapter do we find this king 
mentioned? 

100. What was Daniel's occupation in the first year 
of Darius? 

101. What did he discover? 

102. Give the leading characteristic of his prayer. 

103. What else did he express? 

104. How was his prayer interrupted? 

105. What did Gabriel bring to him? 

106. What was announced in this prophecy? 

107. What does the term "Seventy weeks" mean? 

108. What is to be accomplished in this period of 
time? 

109. Has this anything to do with the church ? 
no. Give the division of these seventy weeks, 
in. When did the Seventy weeks begin? 

112. When was the rebuilding of the City of Jeru- 
salem accomplished? 



218 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

113. What have the critics invented to deny the 
revelation in this chapter? 

114. When was Messiah to be cut off? 

115. How do we know that the term "Messiah the 
prince" means Christ? 

116. When did the 483 years expire? 

117. How was the prediction of the destruction 
of the city fulfilled ? 

118. Who is the Prince that shall come? 

119. What else was predicted? 

120. What interrupted the course of these seventy 
weeks ? 

121. What is the unreckoned period between the 
69th and 70th week? 

122. Who confirms a covenant during the last 
week? 

123. Why can it not mean Christ ? 

124. When will the prince break the covenant? 

125. By what other name is the last half of the 
70th week called? 

126. What is the abomination? 

127. Who is the desolator? 

128. What is that which is determined upon him? 

129. What does the tenth chapter contain ? 

130. Where was Daniel? 

131. For how long did he mourn and fast without 
receiving an answer? 

132. Who is the certain man clothed in linen? 

133. With what other vision does this correspond? 

134. What is the mystery of the delayed answer? 

135. Who is the prince of the kingdom of Persia? 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 219 

136. Who is Michael? 

137. What is the important statement in the angelic 
message ? 

138. What happened to Daniel? 

139. What are the contents of Chapter xi 12-35 ? 

140. Have these prophecies been fulfilled? 

141. When were they fulfilled? 

142. Where in Chapter xi is the time of the end 
introduced ? 

143. Who is the wilful King? 

144. Why is he not Antiochus, or the two little 
horns ? 

145. Where has this king his seat? 

146. What N. T. prophecy describes this king? 

147. Where is he described in the Book of Revela- 
tion? 

148. What is yet to be fulfilled? 

149. Who is the King of the North? 

150. What will be his end? 

151. What period of time is before us in Chapter 
xii? 

152. Who will act in behalf of the people Israel? 

153. What does the rising from the dust mean? 

154. What two classes of Israelites are described? 

155. What else will happen in this time of the end? 

156. What are the 12 90 days and the 1335 days? 



THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS. 

1. Prophecy is history prewritten. 

2. A most powerful weapon against infidelity has 
been lost and an unscriptural optimism as well as 
worldliness of the professing church has resulted. 

3. Because the Book of Daniel is the key to God's 
purposes concerning the earth. 

4. That Daniel did not write this Book during the 
captivity, but that the author was a pious Jew, who 
wrote after Antiochus had appeared. 

5. Porphyry, a pagan philosopher. 

6. The Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew xxiv.15. 

7. First Part : Chapters i-vi. Second Part : Chap- 
ters vii-xii. 

8. In two languages : Aramaic and Hebrew. 
g. The Introduction to the Book. 

10. Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon. 

11. Three times. The first time in 606 B. C. 

12. With his first coming against Jerusalem. 

13. Jerusalem being trodden down by the Gentiles. 

14. Through Jeremiah, Chapter xxvii 15, etc. 

15. No. Because the church was not revealed in 
former ages. Ephes. iii. 

16. He thought upon the future and what should 
come to pass. 

17. After the prayer of Daniel and his companions. 

18. The end of the times of the Gentiles. 

19. Four parts. The image composed of Gold, 
Silver, Brass, Iron and in the feet iron and clay 
mixed together. 

220 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 221 

20. It was destroyed by a stone which fell out of 
heaven. 

21. The Times of the Gentiles. 

22. Man's Day. Margin of 1 Corinth. iv:3. 

23. Gold : The Babylonian Empire. Silver : The 
Medo-Persian. Brass: The Graeco-Macedonian. 
Iron : The Roman Empire. 

24. The lesson of deterioration. The times of the 
Gentiles do not improve. 

25. Ten toes representing ten kingdoms. 

26. Not yet. 

27. The rule of the people in opposition to the iron 
rule, the monarchical form of government. 

28. A great judgment catastrophe. 

29. The Lord Jesus Christ. 

30. Matthew XXL44. 

31. Because when the Lord came the first time the 
Roman Empire was a unit and the division into the 
East Roman and West Roman empire had not yet 
taken place, nor were there the ten toes in existence. 

32. The ten kingdoms and a revival of the Roman 
Power. 

33. No. For the stone smites the whole image and 
under its powerful blow it collapses completely. 

34. After the stone has done its smiting work. 

35. He acknowledged God in a three-fold way. 

36. They were promoted. 

37. The moral and religious characteristics of the 
times of the Gentiles are foreshadowed in these 
chapters. 

38. Sixty cubits high and six cubits broad. 



222 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

39. Yes. See Revelation xiii. The second beast 
sets up an image. 

40. During the time of the end, the great tribulation. 
The number of the Antichrist is 666. 

41. Yes in the Romish church. 

42. The three companions of Daniel. 

43. The tribulations and persecutions of Saints 
under pagan and papal Rome, the other Babylon. 

44. Yes during THE great tribulation. 

45. Another dream of Nebuchadnezzar. 

46. He was degraded and became a beast. 

47. On account of his pride. 

48. Seven years. 

49. Great pride and self -exaltation. 

50. He praised God. 

51. Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchad- 
nezzar; his father was Nabonnaid and his mother 
a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. 

52. They denied for a long time his existence. The 
annalistic tablets of Nabonnaid silenced them. 

53. Because the Aramaic language has no word for 
grandson or grandfather. 

54. The doom of Babylon. 

55. That very night when Belshazzar died and 
Babylon was taken by the Medes. 

56. Impiety and blasphemy. 

57. That he should be addressed in prayer for ^o 
days. 

58. One of the presidents. He was over 80 years 
of asre. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 223 

59. The blessed Gospel and Him who went into 
death as well as the tomb, which was sealed. 

60. Man-worship. 

61. Yes throughout the times of the Gentiles. 

62. Yes, during the great tribulation. The Anti- 
christ will demand worship for himself. 

63. The deliverance of the Jewish remnant of the 
future. 

64. Cyrus, the Persian. 

65. The Prophet Isaiah. Chapters xliv and xlv. 

66. Chapters vii-xii. 

67. Four. The visions of the seventh chapter. 
The Ram and He-goat vision in Chapter viii. The 
prophecy of the seven other weeks and the final 
vision. 

68. Four visions. 

69. The vision of the three beasts. The vision of 
the fourth beast. The vision of the Ancient of days 
and the vision of the Son of Man and His kingdom. 

70. The Times of the Gentiles in their political his- 
tory. This corresponds to Nebuchadnezzar's dream. 

71. He saw a little horn on the fourth beast, the 
Roman Empire. 

y2. The Son of God. 

73. Not a universal judgment, but the judgment of 
the nations at the second coming of Christ. 

74. The Lord Jesus Christ. 

75. After He has come the second time. 

76. The head of the reconstructed Roman Empire. 
yy. The church to leave the earth and the Roman 

Empire must be revived. 



224 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

78. In Revelation xiii. 

79. The head of the Roman Empire, the Antichrist 
and the King of the North. 

80. He will be broken to pieces. 

81. The Saints of the Most High. 

82. The vision of the ram and the He-goat. 

83. The Medo-Persian Empire. 

84. The bear had one paw higher, like the one horn 
of the ram, which was stronger. The three ribs the 
bear had denote the three directions in which that 
empire conquered. 

85. The Graeco-Macedonian empire. 

86. The leopard had wings, denoting the swiftness 
of the he-goat, which touched not the ground.. The 
four heads on the leopard correspond to the four-fold 
division of the territory of the he-goat empire. 

87. Alexander the Great. 

88. It was divided among his four generals. 

89. Out of Syria. 

90. No. 

91. Because this little horn comes out of one of the 
divisions of the Graeco-Macedonian empire, while the 
little horn in Daniel vii comes forth out of the ten 
horns on the fourth beast, the Roman Power. 

92. Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled the description 
and predictions in this part of the chapter. 

93. Literal days and NOT years. The days of the 
tribulation under Antiochus. 

94. Yes. The second half of the chapter proves 
this. 

95. During the end of the indignation, when the 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 225 

transgressors are come to the full, that is, during the 
great tribulation, the time of the end. 

96. The final Assyrian or King of the North. 

97. Isaiah x, Micah v, Joel ii, and some of the 
Psalms. 

98. Out of a part of the territory of the former 
Grecian empire, the country which is now ruled over 
by Turkey. 

99. In Chapter xi. 

100. He read in books concerning the promises of 
God concerning the end of the captivity. 

101. That the time had almost expired. 

102. Humiliation and confession of sin. 

103. He identified himself with the sin and failure 
of his people. 

104. By the appearing of the man Gabriel. 

105. A great Prophecy. 

106. The exact time of the rebuilding of the city of 
Jerusalem, the coming of Messiah the Prince, His 
death on the cross, the destruction of the city and 
the temple by the Romans, the miseries which should 
come upon the nation, the final events of the great 
tribulation. 

107. Seventy times seven years, that is, 490 years. 

108. See Verse 27, Chapter ix. 

109. Nothing whatever. It concerns "Daniel's 
people." 

1 10. Seven weeks — sixty-two weeks — and one week. 
In years: 49 years — 434 years and 7 years. 

in. In the year 445 B. C. When Artaxerxes in 



226 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

the 20th year of his reign gave the command to re- 
build the city. 

112. 49 Years after, 

113. That it has nothing to do with Christ, but 
Onias III., the high priest is Messiah the Prince. 

114. Immediately after the 69 year weeks. 

115. We know it from the remarkable fulfillment 
of this prophecy. 

116. They expired on the day the Lord Jesus en- 
tered into Jerusalem. A few days later He died on 
the cross and there was nothing for Him in connec- 
tion with the nation and the earthly kingdom. 

117. By the Romans in the year 70. 

118. The little horn on Daniel vii. The head of 
the Roman empire. 

119. The dreadful history of the Jewish people 
down to the end of the times of the Gentiles. 

120. The rejection and death of Christ. 

121. The present Christian age. 

122. The Prince that shall come; the little horn of 
Daniel vii. 

123. Nowhere else is a statement made that Christ 
should make a covenant with the many for seven 
years. 

124. In the middle of the week, after 1260 days or 
42 months have passed. 

125. A powerful demon prince. 

126. The setting up of idols and idol worship. 

127. The King of the North, the final Assyrian. 

128. His judgment by the Coming of the Lord. 

129. The introduction to the final vision. 



THE PROPHET DANIEL 227 

130. At the banks of the River Hiddekel. 

131. For three full weeks. 

132. The Son of God. 

133. With the vision the Apostle John had in the 
isle of Patmos. 

134. The prince of the kingdom of Persia kept the 
heavenly messenger back. 

135. A powerful demon prince. 

136. The Archangel with special mission in connec- 
tion with Israel. 

137. That the vision concerns the latter days. 

138. He fainted and then was strengthened. 

139. The predictions of the great wars of the Pto- 
lemies and the Seleucidae. 

140. Yes. 

141. During the centuries which followed Daniel's 
vision and up to the coming of Antiochus Epiphanes. 

142. With Verse 36. 

143. The personal Antichrist. 

144. Because he is totally different from the other 
persons. 

145. In Jerusalem. 

146. Second Thessalonians iin-7. 

147. In the thirteenth Chapter, the second half. 
The second beast out of the land. 

148. The closing verses of Chapter xi. 

149. The final Assyrian; the King with the fierce 
countenance of Daniel viii. 

150. He will be broken by the coming of Christ. 

151. The great tribulation. 

152. Michael, the prince of Daniel's people. 



228 THE PROPHET DANIEL 

153. The national restoration of the people Israel. 

154. The Apostates and the faithful remnant. 

155. The rewards will be given to the faithful rem- 
nant and there will be much running to and fro and 
knowledge will be increased. 

156. Literal days. 



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